Death's Hand: Obscured Truth
by Foxx28
Summary: WILL NOT BE CONTINUING THIS STORY
1. Nothingness

Unclear with no understanding inconspicuous and unnoticeable with little to none distinction. Obscure. Actuality & actual existence, and obvious or accepted fact, no doubt. Truth. How far would you go to separate the lies from the truth? One shinobi is about to find out, just how far someone is willing to go for someone they love.

Death's Hand: Obscured Truth.

Suku woke up to the strong smell of bleach and bright Florissant lights. Her eyes wondered around the room, the dull lifeless dark blue eyes found nothing of interest and she laid back down onto the bed. The hospital door creaked open and a small raven haired boy walked in. Her eyes wandered, mixed emotions of anger and extreme sadness were vivid on her face. Then she saw his face, he emotions grew to a higher level. His eyes, his hair, his face…it's him…Why has he come back? Suku's breathing increased as she looked at Sasuke in the doorway. Her hands gripped the sheets of the hospital bed, her eyes bloodshot with anger.

"Why?!" Suku yelled, finding herself choking the seven year old boy; Suku's mind showing her an image that of Itachi instead of Sasuke. As his body became limp, Suku woke up from the dream screaming. Looking around the room she did not find Sasuke or Itachi. She did not find anyone. The room was dark, neither the moon nor the stars shined that night; the sky entirely black.

Again like so many years ago, Suku stared down at her hands trembling. The familiar memory of her first mission, of lying in the same bed, curled up in a ball crying. So Suku returned to that comfort, returned to what she knew; returned to the cold icy heart that Itachi had slowly melted away. The heart he had healed then crushed cruelly. Her dark blue eyes dulled, no longer holding any happiness. The memories of **that** night became frozen within her mind, they were however not forgotten. Nothing could make her forget her life with Itachi. Nothing could make this pain go away. (1)

Nothing.

---

Suku spend a week in the hospital. Physically fine, the doctors could no longer keep her in the hospital. She was emotionally unstable, and she hid it well from everyone. She created a mask, a mask of nothingness, a mask that would protect her from the world. When she arrived back at home, Naruto pounced on her, tears streaming down his face. When he hugged her, Suku's body automatically reciprocated the hug. She remembered him, yet her love for Naruto was not the same as before. Suku's vision of the boy had changed. She did not see him as a son anymore, the thought was unbearable. Instead of trying to be the loving mother neither of them had, Suku became his strong older sister and sensei.

And as years passed, Naruto's behavior began to become that of Suku's. His view of the world and personality changed dramatically. He was no longer the loud annoying brat, but became known as the Genin of the Year, a strong, smart shinobi that Suku was could proud of. He graduated the academy at age nine, instead of the normal age of twelve. He talked more than Suku, and kept a close relationship with Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Kiba. Naruto was put on a Genin team, but he held no relationship with them, much to their dismay. He kept his distance, only risking his life for them for the sake of the mission.

-3 years later (Naruto age 9 ½ & Suku age 19)-

"Come at me with the intent to kill," Suku commanded falling into a defensive stance, "I am your prey,"

Naruto charged his speed feeling like slow motion to Suku. He aimed a kick towards her abdomen that she easily caught. Standing on only one foot, Naruto began to hop around like an idiot.

"Do not let the prey become the predator." Suku whispered in his ear, "I win." She then hurled him across the clearing.

Flipping in mid air, Naruto landed softly on his feet smirking, "Not yet, Onee-sama." He then went threw a couple hand seals, and disappeared into the ground.

Suku stood in the middle of the clearing with her arms across her chest. Her eyes staring down at the ground; she then jumped up into the air as hands come out of the earth reaching out to grab her legs.

Suku shook her head, "Techniques I have taught you will not work on me. Create something of your own."

Naruto frowned then threw a couple Kunai towards Suku. She dodged them, landing on the ground gracefully. Naruto however smirked and began creating hand seals, then breathed the fire jutsu onto the nearly invisible wire that the kunai were attached too. The thrown kunai were embedded into many trees surrounding Suku.

"_Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu," _

Not expecting this, Suku's eyes widened as she was surrounded by the hot flames. When the fire dissipated with only the smoke lingering, Naruto walked towards the area where Suku had been standing, only to find it empty. He then felt the cold blade of a kunai to his neck.

"I win again, Naruto." She whispered into his ear pocketing the kunai.

Naruto groaned in defeat and began walking back to the Senshi Estate with Suku.

The two ate a simple dinner that night. A light salad, vegetables, and oniguri (sp?).

Naruto passed out an hour after dinner, his long day of training had tired the Chunin out. Suku however left as soon as he was sleep, heading towards her favorite bar.

"What can I get you tonight Suku, the usual?" Komori asked, the largely built bartender smiled down at Suku.

"No, how about something stronger; Shochu mixed with some oolong tea should do the trick." Suku replied sitting down at the bar.

The bar was fairly quiet, with only a few shinobi drinking their sake; it was understandable sense it was a Thursday night. Suku came to the same bar about twice a week. Komori brought her a small tea kettle and a cup. The liquid warmed her body and the alcohol numbed her senses. Slowly, cup by cup Suku drank the contents of the kettle, only stopping to listen to conversations. Her usual drinking buddy was Kakashi but he had been busy with his new team of Genin and Rina lately so she hadn't really seen or bothered to actually talk to him.

Suku paid then left the bar, her mind now fully numb yet completely aware of her surroundings. She drifted through the streets, heading the opposite way of the Estate. The air was not cold anymore like she liked it; it had become hot, the air thickening to the point of suffocation, Suku hated it. She hated Konoha, the villagers, and the entire country. Oh how she wished to leave this village. Be free, go and do whatever she wanted.

Yes, to be free is what she wanted.

When she finally returned home, Suku stumbled loudly into her room and passed out onto her bed. The cool sensation of her air conditioner left a small smile on her face as she slept.

The next day the sky was covered with clouds and the village was bombarded with droplets of rain. The sun was hidden behind the massive dark rain clouds, dropping the temperature a few degrees.

-Training Ground-

Kakashi stared up at the falling water droplets,

'So today's that day again…'

He then announced, "Training is cancelled today."

A pink haired girl squealed, "Yay! Thank you sensei! Now my hair won't get ruined!" She then pranced back to the village.

A boy wearing a fury hooded jacket with a dog in it yelled, "What do you mean cancelled?! Sensei it's only rain, we can still train!" Kakashi waved him off and began walking towards the raven haired boy who hadn't had any objections; a smirk was plastered onto his face.

He too stared up at the rain; the dark intimidating clouds seemed to taunt him. 'You can't escape me, you can't escape my attacks, and you can't escape the pain…'

Kakashi put a hand on his shoulder, "Please, keep out of sight from Suku. Now of all days would not be a good day for her to see you. You don't want to repeat what happened last year…" He sighed then puffed away in a cloud of smoke.

- Local Shinobi Bar –

Genma and Anko sat in a bar conversing, the bad weather still beating down on the village, "Today's the anniversary, the anniversary of the Uchiha Massacre." Anko grimly spoke, "Every sense that night Suku has never been the same. When ever Naruto spares with Sasuke, Suku leaves the house. She can't bear to see him, can't bear to see the resemblance of the two. It sickens me that Sasuke would smirk and rub that pain in her face. He wears that disgusting Uchiha smirk; and it pains me to see her like this, the once strong shinobi full of passion withered into nothing but an emotionless empty killing machine."

Genma nodded chewing on the Senbon in his mouth, "Yeah, I heard she joined Koga's team and their team has never returned from a mission injured sense. She has become the number medic in Konoha." He then added more quietly, "As much as it pains me to say this, I think Itachi killed his clan and left on his own free will. He meant to hurt Suku, he **wanted** to hurt her."

Anko gasped, "Genma! How can you say that? Those two were the only people I have seen in my life that were that madly in love with each other."

Genma continued, "Yes, it is true that they loved each other. I saw as it happened, Anko. They were my students you know. But, I know Itachi well and he hated many things and one thing he hated most was his family. He had the knowledge and the strength to do it single handedly. Plus, he had hurt Suku before. They have had previous fights where he nearly killed her. Their love was strong, but his love for power was greater. He had been like that sense his Genin days. It was always strength and power not love that he worked for. Love just happened to occur on the way towards power. And when he no longer needed it, he threw her away."

Anko shook her head, yet she knew what Genma said was true, "Where do you suppose he is now?"

Genma sighed then drank a cup of his sake before replying, "My guess is, just wondering the world as a missing-nin usually does. But personally, I think he has taken up work somewhere to receive money and shelter."

Anko nodded, she too drinking her sake. The conversation mellowed out, the topic no longer interesting.

- Senshi's Private Training Grounds -

Behind the tall thick trees stood Naruto panting, sweat dripping from his forehead and onto the ground. He gripped his arm in pain, as blood slowly traveled from his shoulder down to his wrist then trickled down onto the forest floor from his fingers. Sasuke stood opposite to him in the clearing; his arm bent in ways that shouldn't be possible.

Each boy grimaced at the other; their deadly rivalry was now reached a new height. Sasuke detested the fact that Naruto had surpassed him so easily and was already a Chunin while he was still a mere Genin. The very thought made his blood boil with anger to the point where he thought of killing him.

Naruto on the other hand, did not hate Sasuke the way he hated him. It was not the difference in strength but the difference in personality, his attitude; his Uchiha smirk, his arrogance over the fact that because of his name and lineage that he was better, stronger, than everyone else. He even had the nerve to hurt Suku in ways that no other person could. He loved making her remember Itachi, the pain that he had caused her. And he was the only person that resembled Itachi to the point where people mistook Sasuke as Itachi.

Naruto remembered on the two year anniversary, that Sasuke had pushed Suku over the edge. She had straight up threw him up against a wall and began choking him till he was literally blue. If Kakashi wouldn't have stepped in, Sasuke would be dead right now, because nothing would have stopped her that day. Quiet frankly Naruto could careless if the Uchiha died. All Naruto wanted to do was get revenge on Itachi for hurting Suku the way he did. Even though he had been pretty young, Naruto still remembered him; his teachings, his wisdom that he shared, everything. So he couldn't imagine what Suku was feeling.

Ten years…ten years of memories of solely Itachi.

The two boys finished their spare and went their separate ways as the sun fell below the mountains. The moon easily raised high in the sky, though it did not provide the same warmth of that of the sun. The orange yellow glow leaving the village, replaced by the cold stillness of the moon, the never changing white snowball in the dark sky.

- Elsewhere -

The temperature dropped significantly to the point where one could see their breath. The breath of frozen life disappeared into thin air, gone with out a trace.

Suku sat on the fourth Hokage's head looking down at the illuminated village, the rain still steadily falling from the black clouds.

"Where are you," Suku whispered, her hand reaching out for his invisible hand, "Take me with you. Take me with you…" Her hand fell softly to her side unable to grasp his out reached had. Her drenched clothes stuck to her body, her hair draped in front of her face like a curtain. Suku's head raised towards the falling rain, looking up she muttered, "Why did you leave? What was so important that you had to leave?" All her questions were returned with the pitter patter of the rain hitting the ground. She sat there for a little over an hour, then she picked herself up and looked directly down at the ground below her then at the stairs leading safely down to the village.

Shrugging Suku stepped off the cliff and let herself drop threw the air. The feeling of weightlessness was bliss to her, the feeling of wind and water against your face, and the slow of your heart beat as you saw images of your past. Yes, this was truly happiness.

- Enter Suku's True Memories-

Suku saw herself and Itachi staring at each other on her first day at the academy. Their gaze interesting the other, as they could not pull away; the curiosity building between the two.

The image faded away to their first mission, the first emotions she had ever felt in years. But Itachi looked different than the way she remembered. Maybe it was her mind that twisted his image to what she wanted to see instead of what was really there. But her memory had never lied to her; it had never failed to show Suku, remind her of what had happened in the past as accurately as possible. And what she saw now in her memory of Itachi was someone she did not know. She refused to believe that that was her Itachi. The man she has loved for years. But oh yes, it was.

As Itachi placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, he held a small smirk on his face and his eyes glistened with excitement that screamed malice and wickedness. It was the smirk of a tainted Uchiha, with very evil intentions.

The image shattered into tiny pieces much like glass and another appeared. The two of them hugging in the garden. The first physical contact that they had shared and it had felt to right at the time. But his face was plastered with a smirk. It disgusted Suku and she shook the memory away, not wanting to remember anymore. But another popped up this time in the forest when Suku had returned from Kiri; when they had their heated make out session.

But the image remained untainted. He seemed changed, from the other memories of when he was younger. He did not hold a look of hatred in his eyes or a smirk on his face. His expression was that of true pleasure and happiness. And deep down in her heart, Suku too was happy. Happy that the feeling he had for her were not a lie, that he did love her.

Suku was eager to see the next image, already knowing of what it would be. The night of the festival. Yes, that was the last and final image that appeared before her. The intimate moment was and will always be a happy memory for both of them. No matter how much Itachi would deny it, Suku knew; she knew that he had loved her. Even if he at evil intentions at first. Suku did not care.

She didn't care about anything else, as long as he had truly loved her in the end. That in the end of all this, that it too had hurt Itachi to leave.

- End of Memories -

Suku opened her eyes the ground rapidly approaching her. At the last second she flipped in the air and landed gracefully on her feet. Her expressionless face looking at the shocked villagers.

"Did she-

"How can that be-

"Why would she-

Suku walked by them, her dull eyes looking past the worthless, weak, villagers that she was obligated to protect. As she walked the streets, all she saw were spoiled old men and women that sat in luxury enjoying life while others suffered. To lazy and cruel to lift a finger and help out those in need of it.

Her eyes were slowly opening and seeing the harsh reality of this disgusting village. She was slowly seeing what was hidden from her eyes. Senshi Suku realized there was a curtain over her eyes that had been lifted. She was seeing the world for what it truly was.

(1)- picture of that scene without the spaces: http://xdarkfoxx. deviantart. com/art/Nothingness-122551230


	2. Test

"The true test of civilization is, not the census, nor the size of the cities, nor the crops, but the kind of man that the country turns out."~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

* * *

April showers continued to rain down on Konoha; the droplets of water perpetually falling.

As Suku walked through the village, her hair and clothes completely drenched, she saw cowardly faces of villages as they hid from her piercing gaze. She saw them for what they really were. Worthless. Her entire view and out look on life had changed dramatically in the last few years. The people here that could not fight deserved to die. The people that could not protect themselves, could not live on their own, those people must die.

Suku had only one mission per week, unlike Naruto who had many. Suku turned and looked toward the south, the sun barely visible behind the clouds, 'He should be back by sunset.' She thought, and then she left the main streets of Konoha, heading back to her own house.

Suku's garden had been dying for attention a couple of years ago, literally, but within a year the garden was returned to its former glory; the lush green plants full of poisonous plants as well as antidotes.

As Suku was cutting plants with her chakra scalpel two Anbu appeared inside the garden.

"Hokage-sama wishes to see you." One of them said. Suku nodded brushes the dirt off her clothes, "I will be back in a moment." She disappeared inside her house and returned dressed in her Anbu uniform and mask.

The three Anbu then left the house, appearing at the Hokage tower.

----

"You wished to see me, Hokage-sama?" Suku asked, bowing her head.

"Yes, I think it's time that you signed a contract with an animal. Come, we will find you something." Sarutobi walked out of his office with the Senshi close behind him.

The two entered a room with two large wooden doors, a piece of paper in between both of them.

'That must be a seal to keep unwanted people out.' Suku thought, looking at it.

Sarutobi created a few hand seals then pressed his palm to the paper; the kanji began to glow a bright green color then the door slowly opened.

"This-"Sarutobi pointed- "is the scroll room of Konoha." Giant bookshelves and huge oak tables were full of numerous scrolls ranging from ninja techniques to history of the ninja world. Every secret of Konoha was within these scrolls. The third Hokage walked past many bookshelves still he came to one with scrolls that were all different colors.

"These are all the summons we have available to you." He said picking a couple out a few. "The others are already signed by families as their clan summon."

"Did the Senshi's have a clan summon?" Suku inquired hoping to have a family summon.

"They did, but the contract is not here. They must have taken it with them when they left Konoha."

Suku nodded and looked down at the ones that were available to her: The Spiders, Ravens, and the Owls.

Sarutobi gazed at her, already knowing the one she will pick.

Suku brushed her hands against each one, thinking about which one she would want. As her hand touched over the Ravens contract, something deep within in her stirred, a small voice telling her to pick it.

She grasped the Raven contract in her hands, knowing this was the one.

The third Hokage smiled, "A wise choice, though the Ravens are a bit different from any other contract. With a bird contract you will always have a personal bird that stays with you, that is no different with the ravens. Ravens usually hunt in pairs so you might get lucky and have two personal ravens instead of one. Be careful when taking their test, they are highly intelligent animals that will trick you any way possible. But, if you pass their test, it will be highly rewarding."

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Suku then bite her thumb, signing her name in the scroll.

Then, creating the correct hand seals a giant poof of white smoke appeared. The ominous caw of the Raven filled the room as two 12' inch ravens appeared out of the smoke.

The slightly bigger of the two was black with a hint of blue on its wings, while the smaller one was much lighter in the feathers with dark-grey silver feathers and black tipped wings.

The dark grey raven asked respectively, her voice soft yet commanding, "Are you the one that summoned us?"

Suku nodded, "Yes, I wish for you to be my comrades in battle."

The larger black raven stepped forward; his attitude of authority was unmistakable.

"What makes you think that we will so willingly aid you?" his crimson eyes narrowing questionably.

"I do not expect you to automatically accept me," Suku smirked falling into a fighting stance, "I will however earn your respect and prove to you I am worthy of being your summoner."

The female grey raven tilted her head side ways, her golden eyes gazing up at Suku curiously, "And how are you going to do that?"

Suku smiled, "By completing any task or test you give me."

The grey raven nodded her head, "Then let's begins."

Jumping back, the grey raven began to disappear with only grey feather in her wake.

'Genjutsu,' Suku thought, 'great'. The surroundings began to change from the dusty bookshelves to a dense forest that was eerily quiet.

The black raven formed two hand seals and then a white ball of chakra began to form at its beak. The chakra ball doubled in size and continued its rapid growth, until it was the size of a volleyball; then without warning it shot forward. Suku's eyes widened, gathering chakra in her feet she quickly jumped high off the ground. Landing on a branch, she gasped at the damage the attack had caused. Trees were completely obliterated and a deep crevasse had formed into the ground.

When she looked back at the spot where the black raven at been, he was no longer there. As Suku moved around, her senses began to dull. Her eyes began to droop, and she could no longer hear or smell anything. Just before her eyes closed, Suku mustered the strength to reach into her equipment pack, grab a Senbon, and stab herself with it in her right arm.

Her senses immediately sharpened once again, she no longer felt tired and she could hear the rustle of the trees again. The black raven then appeared above her, with an ominous caw he then flew towards her. Turning to his side in mid air, the raven stretched out his claws cutting deep into Suku's left arm as he passed her.

The Senshi clenched her teeth in pain as blood gushed from the wound and continued to poor out. She watched the black raven disappear into the forest before directing her attention to the gash. Grabbing gauze out of her equipment bag, Suku tightly wrapped her upper arm. She then swallowed two blood clotting pills, but took no effect.

"Poison," She whispered, "God Dammit!" Angrily she hit the side of the tree, which left an indent of her fist.

Her hair clung to the back of her neck, the perspiration slowly trickling down her forehead, and she began to look a sickly pale color from the loss of blood. Suku's breathing became labored, her heart pulsing faster and faster, as she continuously changed the bandages of her wound. Searching the area for the two's chakra signature, she determined that she was safe for now.

Suku then concentrated on healing the wound that the black raven had so kindly given to her. The work was slow and tedious because of the poison, which she had to extract every last drop of it out of the wound. Once the wound was cleansed of all poison, the pain began to dull. She once again wrapped the wound in gauze this time taking a chakra replenishing pill and a blood clotting pill. They each took immediate effect, and Suku found her strength returning to her.

She slowed her breathing, her heart rate dropping back into a normal pattern, as she concentrated on a plan.

'In the beginning of the fight, the grey hawk immediately withdrew itself from view. So she must be the one creating all of the genjutsu's. The other raven, the male, must do all the physical attacking while the enemy is distracted by the genjutsu's; their teamwork and timing is…incredible. The question is, is this a genjutsu or an actual battle? Because if it's a genjutsu, I have never heard or seen anything like this; to make the enemy think as if they are in pain, when they really haven't even been physically harmed; only mentally, what a genjutsu..' Suku sighed, 'Now to figure out a way to get out of it.'

-With the Hokage-

Sarutobi watched as Suku dodge attacks that were not there, and watched her heal wounds that were not inflicted upon her. Everything that she thought was happening was all a genjutsu created to mess with her mind. If she died in the genjutsu, she would die within her sub-conscious becoming nothing more than a vegetable. This was the test of the Raven's.

-Suku-

'To break the effects of genjutsu, there are two ways. The first is for me to stop the flow of chakra in my body, and then apply an even stronger power to disrupt the flow of the caster's chakra, or cause intense pain not caused by the genjutsu and utilizing the resulting pain to bring their senses back. The latter of the two doesn't seem to work on this caliber of a jutsu, so I need to try the first one.'

Sitting down on a branch cross legged, Suku closed her eyes concentrating on an image of her chakra flow. The fast moving chakra rapidly flowed through her body, reaching from her brain all the way to her toes. The mental image of the chakra began to slow down, as she concentrated. It was like putting something in slow motion, or slowing your heart rate.

When Suku's chakra slowed to a dramatic rate, and when she felt it could no longer be suppressed she let it go and pushed out more chakra than she had before in her life. She released all her chakra letting it go wild.

When all her chakra had been released, Suku fell to her knees panting. But, when she looked up, she found herself in the familiar scroll room with the Hokage smiling down at her. She had broken the genjutsu.

Suku smiled, satisfied with herself but she had no strength left, nor chakra, and could not pick herself up off the wooden floor. All she could do was fall back onto the floor, and let sleep take her away.

When Suku woke up, she found herself in her house surrounded by Ravens. They were much smaller than the two she had fought against but they were larger than regular birds.

"What the hell…" She muttered walking out of the room, and into the kitchen. There sitting on the table was the two ravens that she had fought against earlier.

"Congratulations Suku-sama, you have passed our test and from this point on you are the Raven clan's new summoner; my name is Kana and this is my brother Roka. My father has chosen me and a different raven to be your personal summons."- Kana cawed and a much smaller raven, about 6' inches appeared next to her.-"This is Kita, your other personal summon. She is still quiet young, but she is the strongest out of her age group."

Kita's feathers were glistening black with blood red eyes. Her appearance sent chills down Suku's spine, reminding her of the Uchiha's; but her personality changed that.

"Hello, my name is Kita. I hope I can be of much help to you in the future, and learn many new things from you." Kita said cheerfully, appearing on Suku shoulder.

'She's fast.' Suku thought, as she was barely able to track her movements.

"What are you specialties Kita?" Suku asked, already knowing that Kana's was genjutsu.

"I'm really fast, and I can track people by their scent or chakra signature. I can also tell what element a person is. You, Suku-sama, are a wind user." Kita replied, her voice light and carefree.

Suku nodded, "What are the other raven's doing here, Kana?"

"They had wished to meet their new summoner, but now it's time for them to leave." Kana answered, and then the room erupted in a cloud of smoke. When it cleared all of the other ravens were no where in sight, including Roka.

"How long was I asleep?" Suku asked opening the refrigerator then closing it. She walked over to the table and grabbed an apple out of a basket.

"Three day's; a boy had tried to enter your room, but we wouldn't let him. He was very persistent, and ended up wounding several ravens." Kana recited, like she had answered this question before.

"Naruto!" Suku yelled, her voice traveling through the house. Seconds later, she could hear the sound of feet hitting the wooden floor as Naruto ran into the kitchen.

"Onee-sama, I was worried. The Hokage brought you home and you were unconscious and then these Ravens appeared and wouldn't let me see you. Are you okay?" Naruto asked, genuinely concerned.

"I'm fine Naruto, and the 'ravens' that you are referring to are my new summon."- she pointed Kana-"This is Kana, and this"- she pointed towards Kita who was perched on her shoulder-"Is Kita, be nice they will be permanently with me from now on."

Naruto nodded, "Sorry for injuring the other ravens." He apologized to Kana and Kita.

They nodded their heads accepting his apology, then Kana asked, "Suku-sama, who it this boy?"

"This is Uzumaki Naruto, my little brother."

---

Days passed as Suku trained with Kana and Kita non stop, to perfect their teamwork and timing of attacks. Naruto would occasionally train with the three, his missions and training with his own team took up most of his time.

Suku walked through the village towards her favorite bar. She received glares and horrified looks from many of the villagers as she passed; each one made Suku sick.

"Why are they glaring at us, Suku-sama?" Kita asked solemnly from her perch on Suku's shoulder.

"Because they are spoiled villagers who think they know everything." Suku spat, glaring at them.

Kana shook her head in disgust, but stayed quiet as she sat on Suku's other shoulder.

When Suku entered the bar, she received warm smiles from the Shinobi's and sat down next to Kakashi.

"I hear you passed a team this year." Suku casually asked, staring up a conversation.

"Unfortunately yes, I did pass them; but only because of the Inuzuka boy, Kiba. He saw the true purpose of the test, while Sasuke was to dead set on proving he could beat a seasoned Jounin when he was merely a Genin." Kakashi sighed and shook his head downing his glass of sake.

Suku shook drinking her sake, "What about the girl? Does she have any potential?"

Kakashi laughed softly, "You would kill to girl is you saw her. She is purely a fan girl; but she is pretty smart and is a natural for genjutsu. If she gets over Sasuke then yes, she could become a great Kunoichi."

Suku smirked putting down her sake glass, "If you need any help beating the fan girl out of her, you know where to find me…"

They both laughed, though Kakashi already knew that that she would beat her half to death if he allowed her to help.

'Maybe it would be good for her…' Kakashi thought, picturing the whole scene.

"Kakashi, what are you thinking about? You have that evil smirk on your face, when you have an idea." The Senshi asked interrupting Kakashi's day dream.

"Suku how would you like to come to my teams training tomorrow?" Kakashi inquired already knowing the answer.

Smirking, Suku answered, "I would love to."

-Next day, Training with Team 23-

The three Genin sat at the training ground waiting for their late sensei to arrive. Sasuke sat under a tree with his hands crossed over his chest. Sakura sat next to him, trying to ask him out on a date. While the third student, Kiba, played with his dog, Akamaru.

After about thirty minutes of waiting Kakashi appeared in a cloud of smoke, "Sorry, I had to meet up with my friend." Kakashi stated lamely while his female student, Sakura, began to yell at him for lying and being late.

"Shut up you screaming banshee, his excuse is legitimate this time." A voice said coldly, the figure concealed by the smoke.

Kiba looked closely at the smoke, as he sniffed the air. Sasuke frowned, walking towards Kakashi.

"What is she doing here?" He demanded. Kakashi just waved him off and waited for the smoke to clear.

The pink haired girl, glared at the smoke ready to punch whoever had said that.

When the smoke cleared, a tall woman around the age of 19 with long turquoise hair stood wearing a tight black tank top, which showed a bit of her flat stomach, with short white shorts and her Jounin vest that was unzipped.

"I was right!" Shouted Kiba running over to her, Akamaru closely behind him. Suku nodded at Kiba, acknowledging his presence and picked up Akamaru scratching behind his ears.

"This is my friend Suku and she will be helping us with training today." Kakashi announced.

Sakura then threw her punch that she had waited to throw at the women. Suku caught the punch, her attention still on Akamaru.

"Is there a reason why you are trying to punch me?" Suku asked refusing to look at Sakura.

Sakura answered by trying to kick Suku in the abdomen. Letting go of Sakura's fist Suku caught her kick.

"You know if I didn't stop that, you would have kicked your teammate's nin-dog, your comrade." Suku spoke coldly, slowly turning her head to look at Sakura, "I despise anyone who attacks their subordinates."

Sakura tried to yank her foot away, but Suku held onto it tightly.

"Kiba take Akamaru," Suku commanded handing the dog to Kiba, she then turned to Kakashi who was putting his book away, "May I?"

He sighed, "Don't be too hard on her."

Suku nodded walking over to the center of the clearing, making Sakura hop on one leg behind her. She then turned around facing Sakura and asked, "What is something that you want more than anything else?"

Sakura smiled getting stars in her eyes, "I want to marry Sasuke-kun and live with him happily for the rest of my life!" She yelled punching the air.

Suku narrowed her eyes, looking at Sakura, "Then what are you doing here?"

"I'm here because Sasuke-kun is!" Sakura yelled. Suku shook her head in disgust, getting angrier at every answer.

"What will happen on a mission when you get killed or cause one of your teammates to be killed because of your stupidity and lack of ability?" Suku demanded her voice rising.

"I won't die because Sasuke-kun will protect me. Kiba could go die in a whole somewhere for all I care." Sakura replied immediately.

Kakashi shook his head, 'Wrong answer Sakura, now you have no chance of her giving you any mercy…'

Kiba's eyes widened in surprise at her answer as Akamaru began growling at her. Sasuke just laughed arrogantly as he watched the two.

"Sakura, you just dug your own grave." Suku whispered. Sakura was about to say something but Suku kicked her other leg, making her fall to the ground awkwardly because Suku still held her other leg. Then, Suku lifted her up and threw her across the clearing into the trees.

The pink haired girl slowly stood up coughing, then yelled, "What the hell was that for?!" But she was yelling at no one because Suku no longer stood in the clearing. Sakura spun around looking for her but did not find her.

"Ha, I guess she ran away; what a stupid bitch!" Sakura yelled, staring to walk over to her teammates.

"Who are you calling a stupid bitch?" Suku asked putting a kunai to the banshee's throat. Sakura didn't reply, she was to terrified to.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Suku yelled pocking the kunai and punching her squarely in the jaw. Sakura slid back a couple feet, her legs shaking.

But Suku did not stop there, she appeared in front of Sakura and punched her jaw making her fly into the air; then began to use her as a human punching bag, with punches to her face and stomach. Sakura made a couple of attempts to block and fight back, but they failed miserably.

With a final kick Sakura slammed into the ground, a cloud of dust engulfed the young girl. Suku landed lightly on her feet in the middle of the clearing, and waited for the girl to get up. She waited for a few minutes, and still Sakura did not get up. Her patience was thinning so Suku walked over to where she had landed. Sakura lay face down on the ground unmoving. Suku lightly kicked her over onto her back, and noticed that this 'sakura' had half of the chakra she had earlier.

"A clone," muttered Suku, taking out a Senbon. She stabbed the clone in the stomach and it disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"No use hiding, I know where you are. Come out and fight." Suku yelled, walking back to the center of the clearing.

Sakura slowly walked out of the trees, her limp extremely noticeable.

'I didn't injure her leg…'Suku thought to herself, 'Does she think I'm stupid?'

Suku disappeared and reappeared in front of Sakura and back handing her into a near by tree.

"Why…" Sakura gasped, coughing up blood, "Why, are you doing this?"

Suku frowned, "Why? Because you are weak. You are a liability to your team; you have no skills other than being book smart; which won't get you anywhere. This is the real thing, it's not a game, and it's not a soup opera about your love for Sasuke. It's life or death. Also you screaming at everyone doesn't' help comradeship, your annoying. So just shut up more often."

Sakura's legs gave out and she fell the ground landing on her butt. Tears fell from her swollen eyes as Suku began walking back towards the group.

Kakashi nodded at Suku, "I thought you were going to kill her, jeez" he rubbed the back of his head, "That's the first time I've seen you give mercy to someone…"

"Yeah, your right." She turned and looked towards Sakura, "I hate seeing weak people like her become shinobi and don't work to get stronger, and it makes me sick." Suku spat, "This village makes me sick…" she said more quietly.

Kakashi smiled sadly, "I know,"

---

Suku sat on the roof of her house that night glaring at the lightened village. She had grown to hate the village, grown to hate the people. She didn't understand how Minato could have given his life for this piece of shit village. Everyday, she began to feel more and more suffocated and disgusted by it. Suku just wanted to leave and be free of all of this. Free to live.

Suku closed her eyes, feeling the cool breeze. She slowly opened her lifeless eyes, and looked at the bright moon. Tonight…yes tonight. Jumping back into her house threw her window; Suku went to look for Naruto.

She found him in his room reading; he looked up at her curiously when she entered.

"Onee-sama?" Naruto asked, not sure why she was here.

"I'm leaving Konoha tonight; you may come with me if you like. I will not force you to come. I leave in three hours." Suku stated, and then abruptly left his room leaving a wide eyed boy staring at his book.

Suku gazed at her clock which read 11:30 and set her alarm for 1 o' clock. She was going to get some sleep before the long and risky escape from this village.

It wasn't long before her alarm clock went off and her hour and a half nap was up. She went into her closet and pulled out two black scrolls, a white one and a blue one. Suku then began sealing her ninja clothes and extra weapons into the blue scroll. Then, she went into the kitchen and sealed all the food into the white scroll. When that was finished she then grabbed a much smaller yellow scroll to put her blankets, pillow, tent, and cooking pans in.

Finally everything was ready; everything she needed was packed into her bag. She was dressed in her Anbu uniform and waited quietly for it to reach 2 o' clock. Naruto walked out into the kitchen, fully dressed and he too had packed everything he needed.

Suku nodded at him, "Do you wish to say goodbye to anyone?" Her voice monotone, and lifeless.

Naruto held up two scrolls, one labeled 'Shikamaru' and the other 'Kiba'.

"Be back in ten minutes, or I'll leave without you." Suku declared, watching the boy disappear into the night.

Naruto arrived back with two minutes to spare, and Suku nodded approvingly. Then the two waited for the grandfather clock to strike. It's loud 'DONG' was the only thing left that was heard in that house as the two disappeared. The village seemed dead, that night.

The pair did not pass anyone as they traveled swiftly to the gates. The creatures of the night, stayed silent. And the wind blew ever so softly, being careful not to disturb any leaves that rested on the ground.

An Anbu appeared in front of Suku and Naruto as they approached the gates.

The tall man wore a dog mask, the Senshi already knew who it was, his voice and chakra signature so familiar, "Suku this is my far well gift to you. Be careful." He then let her pass. The guards at the gate had been knocked unconscious, making their escape much easier.

"Thank you, Kakashi." Suku whispered as she jumped into the forest and left Konoha.

* * *

Well tell me what you think so far of the sequal. :D


	3. Need

**Sorry for taking so long to write this chapter. I have been really busy because I just moved houses and it's summer vacation. **

**Thank you so much Waterbluegirl1234 for the review! To answer some of your questions: Yes, Suku is going to be in the bingo book and she will meet up with Itachi soon! The real question is when!! Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!!! **

Death's Hand: Obscured Truth

Chapter 3- Needs

"We are not put on earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are there always for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you."

* * *

Frozen white droplets of rain softly hit the ground, the air chilling and calm. The quiet sound of the wind rustling trees was the only thing heard as it continued to breathe down upon the hidden village. The thick moisture of fog, gripped the ground as two figures walked towards the gates of Kirigakure. Slowly the gate opened, and the pair entered the village. There waiting for them was Matsu and a red headed man.

Matsu smiled sadly, "You may stay here as long as you need to." He wrapped his arms around Suku, she too returned the hug. They spoke quietly for a moment, stepping away from their companions.

Naruto stared at the red headed man; he had seen him before a long time ago. He remembered trembling in his presence yet now, he was only curious. The man gazed at him, and then he slowly smiled at Naruto.

"What is your name?" He asked his voice both smooth and rough.

"Uzumaki Naruto," The blonde headed boy replied bowing his head. Even though he just met this man, Naruto couldn't help but respect him.

The man nodded, "Sharaku Reikoku," he announced holding out his hand. Naruto shook it firmly.

Suku and Matsu returned to the pair, and the four began walking to the Senshi Compound. The house was quiet only Kohana, Matsu's wife, sat outside by the gardens drinking her cup of tea. She too smiled sadly at Suku and ushering them inside the house.

"You may stay here if you wish," Matsu offered, once everyone sat down at the table drinking a cup of hot tea.

Suku shook her head, "Thank you, but I must decline. I want a small house of my own and I have the sufficient funds the purchase one."

Kohana smiled setting down her tea, "We will go house shopping immediately then. But until you find the house you want, you will stay here with us; I will not take no for an answer either."

Matsu chuckled softly shaking his head at his wife. Then Reikoku leaned over and whispered something into Matsu's ear. The Mizukage nodded seriously then set his tea down, "I have to be going, I'll look into finding a house for you Suku." Matsu announced, he then left the Senshi Estate with Reikoku closely behind him.

--- Later that night---

Suku sat on top of the roof the icy cold air made her grip her clothes more firmly around herself. She stared at the distant lights of the village; the faint glow's of yellow and orange mixing together. Suku sighed, her warm breath visible only for a moment.

'Should I serve this village? Protect these people?' She thought to herself thinking the question out; creating possible out comes if she decided to join. She however did not like the outcomes that were most likely going to happen. Clenching her fist, Suku frowned. If she became a shinobi of Kiri she would get noticed by Konoha and they would demand that they hand her over with Naruto because they are missing Nin's. Matsu however wouldn't just kick her out and throw her back into a place that she had escaped from. He would protect them and refuse which would eventually lead to a full out war.

Suku shook her head, no matter how she looked at it the outcome was the same; pain, suffering and death. Taking a deep breath Suku thought of the possibilities of not becoming a shinobi again. The peace of tending to her garden, sleeping in, and cool morning work outs. She closed her eyes, imagining all the potential of all the new poisons and cures she could create. She would of course still train, and make a living by becoming a local doctor for civilians and shinobi. The thought of a new life stirred something deep within her; she would finally be able to forget about her past in Konoha and would finally be able to let it go; to let of Itachi.

Naruto poked his head out of the window below Suku, he curiously looked at her. The far off expression on her face made Naruto turn around and let her be for the night; not wanting to disturb her. Suku sat up on the roof for another hour before jumping back inside the window. The large warm bed made her heavy eyes instantly close and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning Suku and Kohana left the house early looking at numerous houses that could potentially work; but none felt like home. It was almost noon before they came upon a small cottage that was snuggly tucked back from the village just off the beach. The three bedroom two bath, house was perfect. There was enough space for her and Naruto plus a room for patients. The kitchen was small, made for only one person to be in it at a time. There was a cozy living room with a fireplace that warmed the whole house. Suku instantly fell in love with it.

The house had been abandoned so there was no owner of the house. Suku bought the house later that day, and moved into it the next; her mind still full of possibilities of her new life.

Weeks passed and the two settled into their new house nicely. Suku had made a reputation as a doctor that could heal anything, and Kiri had welcomed her with open arms. Being around Suku, Naruto picked up medical techniques but he did not pursue a career in it. Suku became the Seven Swordsmen's doctor whenever someone became ill or got hurt and they began to grow on Suku. She began to develop concerns for their well being. But she kept it at a professional level, never asking personal questions that were unnecessary to their health or interfering in their personal lives.

She did not want a relationship with someone and she made it very clear to those that wanted to pursue a relationship with her.

Everything was as Suku predicted, calm and peaceful that is until _**that**_ night.

It was raining none stop, the dark grey clouds continuously dropped large droplets of water onto the village; and as the sun set the weather grew fiercer. Sharp crackles of thunder rumbled through the night as it was lit up by deadly strikes of lightning. Suku sat in her room reading, when her front door was kicked open and two shinobi ran into her house carrying someone. Startled, Suku ran out of her bedroom prepared to fight the invaders.

Shocked Suku yelled, "Zabuza, what happened to Reikoku?!" The two large young men began to argue as to what happened, each one trying to tell their side of the story.

"Never mind the details, bring him here." Suku commanded opening the door to her operating room for patients, "Naruto bring me a bowel of hot water and a rag." she yelled. He instantly appeared in front of the door, carrying the bowel and rag. The room became very crowded with all four people trying to look at Reikoku.

"Everyone out except Naruto!" Suku ordered, as she rolled up her sleeves and prepared to examine the wounds. Two deep slashes cut across his chest like an 'X' they bled profusely and one of the slashes was within centimeters of his heart. Seeing this Suku immediately summoned her healing green chakra and concentrated on stopping the bleeding. Once that was done, she moved to examine the rest of his body: six broken ribs, a concussion, a broken wrist and arm, chakra exhaustion, three stab wounds, and multiple bruises. Suku moved to most serious first, the stab wounds. They were deep wounds to his shoulder and abdomen but they are easy to heal.

"Naruto, begin healing his broken bones." Suku said, swallowing a chakra replenishing pill. Naruto nodded, and quickly got to work. Suku moved to his head, her glowing green hand healing his concussion. She then moved to a cabinet and pulled out a syringe, filling it with a chakra replenish medicine. It was like the pill, only in liquid form, it was for those who are unconscious and aren't able to swallow a pill. Finding his vein in his arm, Suku shot the medicine into his body. Then using the hot water and rag, Suku wiped the dried up blood off his chest, abdomen, and shoulder. She set the bowel and towel down, and grabbed an ointment out of a drawer and began to apply it over the stab wounds and the 'X' on his chest.

Naruto had finished healing his broken bones and was wrapping them in thick sturdy gauze once that was done he then wrapped the other wounds in gauze as well. Suku sighed heavily, walking out of the room. She stumbled a bit, and dropped into a chair in the living room where Zabuza and Kisame sat waiting anxiously.

"Will he recover?"

"Is he okay?"

"Yes, he will be fine. He will take about a week to heal, but he will make a full recovery. Now what exactly happened?" Suku asked, sipping on a glass of water. Kisame looked away, as if ashamed about something.

Zabuza spoke solemnly, "Mika as been kidnapped. We were all on a mission together, which never happens especially Reikoku. He is Matsu-sama's personal guard and the strongest shinobi next to the Mizukage of course. So we all knew it was an extremely dangerous mission if he was coming with us. We were ordered to rescue the water daimyo's daughter. She had been kidnapped by an unknown group of shinobi. When we reached their hideout they were all waiting for us, 10 shinobi dressed in black cloaks with red clouds. We all broke off and fought separately. But two shinobi stayed back and watched the fights. Reikoku decided that they were the leaders and fought them. When Mika saw Reikoku-sama get hit in the chest she left her fight to heal him. But as she healed him, the man she was fighting grabbed her and took her away. Then they all disappeared leaving the water daimyo's daughter behind."

Suku stared at Zabuza seriously, her mind thinking over every detail of his story, "How were you able to watch all this go on while fighting someone else?" Suku questioned.

Zabuza scoffed, "We were dominating them, and we didn't have to go all out against them."

"But when Reikoku fought, the leader took him seriously…" Suku muttered gazing back at the room he was in, "Please go back to your houses I do not have enough space for you. I will keep you updated on Reikoku's recovery."

The two nodded leaving the house. Each one did not speak a word to the other. Suku got up from her chair and walked back into her own bedroom. She flipped the lights off and fell asleep immediately, exhausted.

The next morning Suku brewed a healing herb tea that would help Reikoku recover faster. It was highly bitter but it worked. When she checked on him, he was surprisingly awake.

"Where is Mika?" He asked sitting up suddenly. Suku gently pushed him back down, and handed him a cup of tea.

"Look what you did, you opened your wound." Suku muttered shaking her head; she removed the bloodied bandages leaving his chest and abdomen bear. She then rubbed the ointment from before back into the wounds. He grimaced in pain as it began to sting. Suku then rewrapped his chest and abdomen with fresh new bandages.

"Thank you," Reikoku said sadly gazing at his broken body.

Suku sat down on a chair next to his bed, "It will eventually heal, so just be patient." Reikoku looked away and sipped on his tea, the taste oddly familiar.

"You're worried about her aren't you?" Suku asked softly, her eyes looking far off in the distance.

Reikoku turned his head and looked at Suku, he could easily tell what she was referring to, "I protect Matsu-sama with my life, which includes the future Mizukage's as well. Mika is next in line to become our new Mizukage; I can't let anything happen to her. I swore on my life to protect them, if I can't fulfill that promise I will die trying. But no, there is no romantic relationship between Mika and me. I know she likes me, she has sense we were kids. But nothing will every happen between us."

Suku nodded her head her mind still far away. Reikoku titled his head sideways and gazed at her, "What about you?" He asked deviously

"What, being in a relationship?" Suku exhaled deeply looking out the small window, her eyes narrowed as she spoke, "No I'm not, but I was. We had known each other sense we were six. We were on the same Genin team, we grew up together. Then-" Suku's eyes darkened and her voice grew cold, "He left. He killed everyone in his clan besides his pitiful little brother; and then left the village. Left me…"

Reikoku gazed at Suku as she stared at the floor her face emotionless, "Is that why you left, because he did?" He asked softly, hoping he wasn't asking too many personal questions.

Suku shook her head looking Reikoku straight in the eyes, "I didn't know it then, but love blinded me. It shielded my eyes of what the village truly was, and what really went on in the shadows of our government. Once the love I had felt was gone, I saw the village's true nature that had been shut out from the public eye. I saw the true workings of the village. That is why I left." Suku closed her eyes and sat back in the chair as memories of the true Konoha resurfaced from her subconscious.

~Flashback~

Suku stood before Sarutobi with her raven summons, Kana and Kita, on her shoulders. Fully dressed in her Anbu attire and mask, the Senshi gave a full report of Team 1's completed mission emotionlessly, "The small river village Sasebo bordering water country has been exterminated. There was a small resistance of 150 men but they were quickly silenced. The village consisted of 300 people, 75 being children, with the evidence of exporting weaponry across the border to a neighboring river village; Mission complete with no complications or casualties." She summed up.

Sarutobi took a drag from his pipe then exhaled slowly, "Well done, your next mission will be a solo mission. You will travel to the town Nekoyama, this mountain side village has been breeding large cat breeds and selling them to Kumo as nin-cats. You will create a poison from the surrounding plants and inject it in a way you see fit, exterminating the population of the village. You will leave in two hours." Sarutobi ordered.

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Suku said disappearing.

~Flashback end~

Suku completed every mission she had been given emotionlessly. But deep down inside, the Senshi grew disgusted with the amount of lives she was ordered to take. The amount of blood she had shed. This was the price of rising to the top, the price of becoming the best.

She shook away the memory and opened her eyes, and looked around the room. Reikoku had fallen asleep and he lay so peacefully on the bed. His calm even breathing soothed Suku as she sat next to him. Gazing at him, Reikoku looked perfect as the sun from the window hit his face. Suku found herself wanting to stroke his cheek and run her fingers through his silky red hair; taken aback by these foreign feelings that she was not use to, Suku stood up suddenly causing the chair to fall onto the ground. Reikoku's eyes fluttered but he remained asleep. Sighing, Suku picked the chair up and sat down once again and gazed down at him.

'Why am I having this strange feeling?' she asked herself, and then a memory hit her of when she was six. The memory of when she first met Itachi. She had had the same feeling before as she does now.

"Could I…" Suku muttered aloud, her eyes softening as she gazed at Reikoku.

Naruto stood by the open door gazing at Suku as she stared down at the man with eyes he had only seen her with when he was younger; when Itachi was still around.

Gazing at the two, Naruto thought to himself, 'If Onee-sama trusts this man enough, to open up for the first time in years and talk to him about her past…then I will trust him too.' Smiling the nine year old walked out of the house into the forest to continue his training.

Suku left the room when she felt Naruto's chakra leave the house and go into the forest.

'It's a bad habit to eavesdrop…Naruto' she mentally scolded

She walked into the kitchen and began to prepare lunch. By the time Naruto returned an hour later, Suku had finished making lunch and a large variety of sashimi with a bowel of white rice and hot tea sat on the table, waiting for him. The two ate in silence, like usual and Naruto washed the dishes. Suku brought a bowel of Kayu in for Reikoku.

*Kayu- is rice gruel, watery, soft cooked rice that resembles oatmeal. It is a suitable dish for using left over rice and is often served to sick people because it can be digested easily.

-Two days later-

Suku unwrapped Reikoku's bandages and inspected the healed wounds closely. A large 'X' had scared his chest but other than that everything else had healed without a scar. Reikoku sat on the side of the bed stretching out his fingers, wrists, arms, and shoulders then stood up to stretch his back, legs, knees, ankles, and toes.

He smiled satisfyingly, "Well I guess you do live up to your name of being the doctor that can heal anything." Suku nodded and turned around as he began to put on the freshly washed clothes.

"I managed to get the blood stains out of your clothes," Informed Suku when he was fully dressed. Reikoku wore traditional samurai white samurai pants with a black undershirt and a red vest that cut off at his shoulders. A red cloth was wrapped around his waist to hold his two swords and he wore the traditional black ninja sandals (the ones sand-nin wear).

Smiling Reikoku walked out of the house beckoning for Suku to follow. He walked past the gardens and into the forest where he began to rub his shoulders and stretch out his muscles. Naruto trotted after them and looked at Suku questionable as she was dressed in her ninja attire, which was rare as she usually wore her training clothes. She wore a white trench coat, a fishnet shirt with bandages underneath, black shorts and black sandals.

Suku cracked her neck and knuckles, making a loud popping noise.

"Onee-sama, what are you doing?" Naruto asked looked from Reikoku to Suku.

"I haven't trained in two weeks." Mumbled Reikoku sadly but his voice grew more cheerfully, "But now I am fully recovered and I wish to spar with Suku." Reikoku announced, speaking mostly to Naruto. He then fell into an offensive fighting stance, "Let us begin with Taijutsu only."

Suku nodded and ran at Reikoku, and aimed her two fingers at Reikoku's arm. He sidestepped to the right, grabbed Suku's outstretched arm and threw her into the air. Flipping in the air, the Senshi landed lightly on her feet and ran at Reikoku from the side. She threw a punch to his face, which he avoided by ducking down. Suku then kicked him in the abdomen, making him slide across the clearing.

Naruto smirked on the sidelines watching the fight, "Choosing close combat with Onee-sama was a bad idea." He mumbled shaking his head as Suku punched Reikoku in the jaw.

Wiping the blood off his chin Reikoku yelled to Suku, "How about we get serious now? Anything goes…"

The two then disappeared leaving only the sounds of battle in their wake. Naruto blinked in surprise trying to follow their movements as they continued to disappear and reappear. Then Naruto saw Suku fly back into the trees snapping them in half. She slowly got up, and then disappeared and reappeared in front of Reikoku. With her split body activated she thrust her arm foreword to touch his shoulder. He side stepped to right avoiding the attack and grasped Suku's wrist tightly. Smirking Suku then kneed him in the stomach and punched him in the face with her free hand. He flew back across the clearing. As he slowly got up, he clutched his stomach in pain.

"What… was that?" He asked coughing up blood, though he wasn't referring to her Kaki Genki. Suku clenched and unclenched her fist and as she stared at it blue chakra engulfed it. Reikoku's eyes widened, now knowing what it was.

"My sensei, Tsunade, taught me how to enhance my strength by storing chakra and releasing it at the point of contract." Suku explained punching a tree effortlessly as it exploded into splinters. Impressed Reikoku slowly walked towards the center of the clearing.

"I see, well you definitely prove that you belong in the Senshi family. But how will you fair against ninjutsu and genjutsu?" Reikoku unsheathed his black katana and stabbed it into the ground.

He then ran through a series of hand seals and once he was finished he pressed his palm to the hilt of his sword. The ground began to tremble and large cracks began to form in the clearing. The tremors felt like an earthquake as the earth continued to break apart creating large crevasses. Then it suddenly stopped. The earth grew still and all was quiet. Then just as Suku thought it might be a fluke, a burst of hot magma shot out from the crevasses that had formed only moments ago. The fiery red liquid shot into the sky and began to rain down on the clearing. Dodging the liquid skillfully Suku put all her attention on dodging the magma. Reikoku took this chance as he unsheathed his other katana and ran at Suku. Distracted, the Senshi was barely able to dodge the attack as he thrust his sword forward stabbing at her abdomen. As she jumped back, a falling glob of molten rock hit her upper thigh. Burnt pieces of the fabric fell onto the ground as her flesh began to smolder.

Gasping in pain, Suku fell onto her knees and immediately began to heal the 3rd degree burn. Sense it was a fresh wound, the healing process took only a few moments, that she usually wouldn't have in an actual battle. Once she was finished, Suku jumped back a couple of feet to put some distance between her and Reikoku.

She clenched her teeth in pain, the burn not completely healed. The Senshi then bit her thumb, created a few hand seals, and pressed her palm to the ground. A large poof of smoke appeared in the clearing but the barrage of falling fire cleared it away. Kana and Kita sat atop Suku shoulders, their eyes darting around the clearing for the enemy. The once small raven, Kita, was now full grown and she wore metal claws and a metal type armor on her wings that was used to cut through flesh and bones.

"We are sparring, but in no way go easy on him." Suku addressed them, "Think of him as an enemy, and be careful of the falling fire that is spewing out of the ground. Let's go!" Kana flew off of Suku's shoulder and disappeared into the trees to prepare genjutsu's. Kita remained on her shoulders as Suku ran at Reikoku.

Once she was within range, Suku jabbed Reikoku on the back the neck with two fingers. Immediately following she used the combination of punches and kicks to force him into the air where Kita would attack him.

As Reikoku took the attacks from Suku, he was unable to control his body. It was like he was a 3rd person watching the battle take place instead of participating in it. When he tried to move or defend himself his body wouldn't responded. But soon, he began to regain supremacy back over his body and was able to catch Suku's ankle as she tried to kick him. He once again threw her across the clearing, but she landed lightly on her feet; but something was missing, Reikoku noticed. Before he could respond, Kita sunk her claws into his shoulder, leaving a few nice size holes behind.

Glaring at the raven, Reikoku flipped in the air and landed on the around clutching the wound.

Naruto stared at the two from the sidelines shaking his head, "Why is Onee-sama actually hurting him after she just got done healing him?" he wondered aloud.

As if hearing Naruto, Suku sighed and walked over to Reikoku helping him up off the ground. "Let's call it a draw," She suggested, "Besides if we continue we might end up actually hurting each other pretty badly."

Reikoku laughed, "It's a draw for now," He agreed, "But we will settle the score some day." After canceling his jutsu and sheathing his sword, the three walked home.

"Reikoku-san, that was an impressive technique," Marveled Naruto at dinner; the meal for the night was Naruto's favorite food, ramen.

"Yes, it's only one of the many fire Jutsu's I specialize in." Reikoku explained, "My swords each have different abilities. The one I used today, Kaseigan, is much weaker than my other sword, Okibi Ou. Kaseigan uses volcanic magma instead of regular fire. It's a mix of molten rock and fire making it much hotter. Okibi Ou is my trump card that I only use in situations where I need to. It was a gift my summons, the Phoenix's."

Naruto was intrigued by the information, wanting to know more, "Does every swordsmen of Kiri have swords with abilities like yours?" He asked eagerly.

"Only the Seven swordsmen have swords with special abilities," Reikoku corrected, "The ability of the seven swordsmen's swords is different, but that isn't necessarily chakra wise. The sword's abilities and appearance all depend on the wielder of that blade. For instance, Zabuza his sword does not have any techniques but the design of it fits his personality; the sword is designed to cleave heads off of people. Kisame's sword does not cut but rips just like his appearance of being a shark. Also once the sword has an owner, no other person is allowed to wield the sword. The consequence depends on the sword." Reikoku finished.

The discussion ended shortly after dinner when Naruto began to get tired and decided to continue it tomorrow.

Reikoku and Suku sat in the living room drinking hot tea, shortly after Naruto went to bed.

"What was the sparring really about today? I don't think you would really injure yourself again because you hadn't fought in a couple of days." Suku questioned, her eyes locking with Reikoku's.

"Your right," He sighed setting down his tea, "I sparred with you today to test your strength."

"Why?"

"Because, we are going after Mika in two days; but she was our medic, and now that we lost her we need someone else to replace her. You have the medical knowledge and strength to keep up with us. We need you." Reikoku stated seriously.

Suku looked away for a moment contemplating on what she should do. If she left she risks being found and having Konoha hear about it. Resulting in a very bad conflict. Then an idea came to her. Why not have Kogan go? He would be perfect; he's just as good as her. Heck even better. Then another thought hit her. He was also next in line to become Mizukage. If anything happened to Mika, like her being kidnapped; Kogan would have to inherit the title. So they couldn't risk loosing him either.

"I'll do it. But I have one request." Suku announced, looking back at Reikoku. He nodded indicating for her to continue.

"On this mission, I do not want to be referred to as Suku or Senshi. I want a code name so that if this gets out Konoha won't know my identity but only the false name."

Reikoku was impressed, he hadn't thought of that. So he agreed and then the two left to go to bed. The long day taking a toll on both of them.

-Unknown Location-

"She is a medic right?" A man asked his deep voice cold and full of authority.

"Yes but she refuses to cooperate." Responded another man, his voice was rough.

-Inside room in Unknown Location-

Mika sat against a stone wall both her hands and feet bound by chakra chains. The dark cell-like room was hot yet cold at the same time. She had lost count of how many days she had spent here, but she knew Reikoku would come for her.

Mika understood that she and Reikoku would never happen and that it was pointless to love him. But she couldn't help but love him. A door opened interrupting her thoughts. A switch was turned on and the flash of light blinded her for a moment.

A tall man with long dark bluish black hair stood before her once again. The red eyes man stared down at her, glaring. He then crouched down, looking her into her icy blue eyes.

"Cooperate and you will not be harmed. Heal my eyes." He commanded his voice calm yet held a hint of angry.

Mika spit in his face and turned away from him, completely ignoring him. The man's eyes narrowed, as he grasped her throat tightly.

"If you will not do as I say. I have no use for you." He gripped her throat tighter.

Mika frowned and kneed him in the groin. He immediately let go of her neck and doubled over in pain. Once he had recovered, he backhanded Mika and slammed her head into the stone wall.

"Is that the best you can do?" She snarled, kicking his abdomen. He flew back a couple feet, becoming angrier by the minute. He appeared in front of her and grasped her neck once again, only this time he activated his sharingan. Her body went limp as her eyes rolled to the back of her head, unconscious.

The man let her body fall to the floor and walked out of the room. As he walked down the hall, his vision blurred and he stumbled over to the wall for support as he began to cough. He brought his cloak up to cover his mouth as the coughing fit continued. When it was finished, he pulled his hand away from his mouth, revealing the cloak drenched in crimson liquid.

He walked back to his room and rummaged through his dresser. When he found what he was looking for he opened the bottle of pills and swallowed a few of them.

"Dammit it isn't working…" He hissed, breathing heavily, "I need _**her**_…"


	4. The time has come

**Thank you Fastion. Disaster for the review! ^^ I really appreciate it. I think the reason the sequel is better is because I have found my writing style and I know where I want to take the story. Thanks again for the review :D

* * *

**

_They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself" ~Andy Warhol

* * *

_

~Death's Hand: Obscured Truth~

Chapter 4- The time has come

Suku woke up early the next morning and made breakfast which consisted of eggs, bacon, and an apple. Then she went out to tend to her garden. An hour later Naruto woke up and he ate the leftovers from Suku's breakfast. (AN: ugh sounds like a list)

"Is Reikoku awake?" Naruto asked, wanting to continue their conversation from last night.

Suku shook her head from her crouched position on the ground, "He already left, and he probably won't come back today. We are leaving tomorrow for a mission, so he is very busy."

Naruto half smiled then looked at her confusingly, "Your going on a mission? But you're not a shinobi of Kiri…"

"I know," Suku explained, "But it's only a one time thing. I'm just replacing a medic on their team for this mission that's all." The blonde headed boy nodded in understanding and left Suku alone to prepare for her mission.

-Mizukage's office-

Reikoku and Kouryuu stood before the Mizukage, with his elbows on the desk and his chin resting on his interlaced fingers as he listened to Kouryuu's explanation.

"From the information I have gathered the group that has kidnapped Mika-sama is called Akatsuki. They are a criminal organization of S-Class missing-nins. They are composed of ten primary members, all of whom are missing-nin from their own respective villages. Members always work in teams of two, and they wear black cloaks with red clouds on them. They are a highly dangerous group." Kouryuu finished, her voice calm yet sad.

Matsu closed his eyes than asked, "Do we know the identities of these ten members?"

Kouryuu nodded and opened a thick file reading, "We know 8 out of 10 identities.

Deidara, formally from Iwagakure. His specialty is exploding clay. He is very intelligent, often using tricks, and is a long-range specialist and is weak in close combat.

Hidan, formally from Yugakure. He carries around a triple blade scythe and is extremely skilled with it. He is said to be immortal and unable to die; a result of extensive experimenting with the Jashin religion's various Jutsu's

Kakuzu, from Takigakure. He is a very powerful ninja, as every opponent he has had he defeated with little effort. His excels in Taijutsu and is a keen analyst. It is also said that he cannot be killed.

Orochimaru, formally from Konohagakure. He is an extraordinarily powerful ninja with a vast amount of various techniques. He has knowledge in Kinjutsu and holds the snake contract. He also has various snake abilities.

Sasori, formally from Sunagakure. He is a master of puppetry, and created a number of them while in Suna. Sasori can manipulate puppets at an incredible speed, to the point where his finger movements become blurred. As puppets are long-range weapons, he is an expert at fighting at long distances

Tobi, village unknown and abilities also unknown. He wears an orange swirl mask with one eye hole.

Zetsu, formally from Kusagakure. He is easily distinguished by two large Venus fly trap-like extensions enveloping his head and upper body, giving him a plant-like appearance. Not much is known about his abilities". – Kouryuu then stops reading from the list, but Matsu urges her to continue.

Uchiha Itachi, formally from Konohagakure. There is a lot of information on this man; so I'll just skip to the necessary information. He is a pacifist and he will not actively take part in battle, typically only acting in self-defense. From a stationary position he studies an opponent's movements with his Sharingan and responds accordingly, often with a genjutsu. He can cast a genjutsu by merely pointing or looking at someone, and could similarly turn an opponent's genjutsu against them. Itachi also is noted to be very fast, particularly with his hand movements."

Kouryuu summed up, finishing her report. Matsu sighed deeply and rubbed his temples, "Reikoku, using this information, you will choose who will be everyone's opponent based off their abilities. Also, make sure Suku does not come into contract with Uchiha Itachi. There is no telling what he will do to her, or what she will do to him." Matsu ordered.

"Matsu-sama, may I suggest something?" Reikoku spoke up, he waited for Matsu to nod to continue, "It may be a good idea to tell Suku about Uchiha Itachi being in Akatsuki and the possibility of running into him. That way she can prepare herself so she would be able to push her personal problems aside to deal with them later to concentrate on completing the mission."

The Mizukage closed his eyes then slowly opened them, "Fine, Reikoku you are to tell Suku about this information. Bishamon and Chokichi will take part in the mission as well. They will meet you at the front gate tomorrow morning. Kouryuu where is the location of their base?"

Kouryuu opened the file again, scanned a few pages then stopped and announced, "They are located in the Land of the Mountains, in Tea country. I was able to narrow it down to Mount Tokachi, but the entrance to the hideout is still unknown."

"Very good, thank you Kouryuu for your hard work, you are dismissed." The Mizukage stood up from his chair and gazed out of the large window behind him.

"Reikoku," Matsu muttered softly, instantly he was by the Mizukage's side, "Please…bring my daughter back…"

-Senshi Estate-

Suku stood in the green house mixing different ingredients into a vile. The pale yellow liquid looked toxic as she dipped Senbon into it. She then put a cork on the top of it and set it onto a long wooden shelf where all her finished poisons went. The wooden shelf held tons of different colored liquids as well as rare ingredients.

Taking a wet cloth Suku cleaned her workspace of all ingredients that she no longer needed and any liquid that might have been spilt. Just as she was leaving the green house Reikoku appeared in front of her.

"Suku, there is something you need to know about the mission tomorrow," Reikoku addressed holding out the folder to Suku. She scanned over the pages, and then stopped on the late page. Her eyes widened as she stared at his picture.

"Suku there is a good chance that he will be there, I need to know that you will follow orders and won't compromise the mission." Reikoku asked, trying not to sounds to harsh.

The Senshi tore her gaze away from the picture, and looked Reikoku in the eyes, "This mission is more important than my personal issues. It will not affect the mission." She responded, crushing her current feelings and once again bringing back her emotionless mask. .

Reikoku gave a sort of sigh of relief and continued his explanation, "Also, you will be fighting against Deidara. He is a long ranged fighter and uses exploding clay as his weapon of choice. We meet at the gate at dawn."

He then left the garden in a swirl of fire.

Suku then fell to her knees in shock. Trembling she whispered to herself, "I…I can't do this anymore. I can't bring back my old self…"

She sat on the ground for a couple of minutes to put herself together. Then slowly Suku stood up, and sat down in a chair in the greenhouse. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down the Senshi began to think through the upcoming events carefully to decide what she should do.

When Naruto returned home, he found Suku still hard at work in the greenhouse. A bit curious as to what she was creating, he stumbled into the greenhouse to see.

"What are you making?" He asked peeking over her shoulder.

"I'm making an antidote." She responded simply, keeping her full attention on preparing the ingredients before her.

Naruto scanned over the poisons searching for the one she was creating an antidote for. Tilting his head, Naruto again looked over at them but did not find what he was looking for.

"Judging by the ingredients you are using, the antidote your making isn't for any of poison's here." Naruto concluded, satisfied that he was able to figure it out.

Suku nodded her head, "It's a rare poison that I created a long time ago." But she did not elaborate on the subject and Naruto just left it at that.

- Mount Tokachi -

Itachi gazed up at the dull ceiling as he lay in bed. He had tossed and turned all night and wasn't able to get much sleep, even though he knew that he would end up having to fight seriously tomorrow. He shut his eyes, but images of that night invaded his thoughts as he was unable to get rid of them. Images of _her_ flashed through his mind, and precious memories replayed themselves. He could hear her soft voice, feel her warm touch, and taste her sweet lips.

Itachi sat up and shook his head angrily, his fingers grasping his hair tightly. His breathing became labored, as he sat on the edge of his bed hunched over; the illness eating away at his body.

"I will find you…" He gasped, putting a blood soaked hand towel on his nightstand.

-Next Morning-

The large gates of Kiri stood tall as eight people assembled waiting to leave. Each one nervous yet excited for the up coming battle. Mist gathered at their feet, as the captain approached the group.

"Our mission is to rescue Senshi Mika, only. Fighting the Akatsuki members is a diversion to get to Mika. Do not do anything unnecessary, these shinobi are strong. Based upon ability I have selected who will fight who. Zabuza you will fight Hidan. Kisame you will fight, Kakuzu. Raiga, you will fight Sasori and Kouryuu you will not be fighting; you will sneak into the mountain and rescue Mika. From this moment until the mission ends, Suku will be known as Mai, and she will be fighting Deidara. Bishamon and Chokichi will take care of Orochimaru and Itachi. Mission start!" Reikoku commanded, and everyone disappeared into the forest.

Even with everyone going as fast as they could, the journey to tea country still took two long days. The nine shinobi traveled in two lines of four with Reikoku taking point. Suku was in the line with Zabuza, Kisame, and Chokichi. Zabuza and Kisame bickered amongst themselves, often fighting over little things such as that fact that Zabuza was going too slow or Kisame was running too close to Zabuza. But other than that, no one spoke unless necessary and it continued as they set up camp. The watch shifts were set up, fish were caught for dinner, and everyone then went to bed except Suku and Chokichi.

Suku sat by the fire staring into the dangerously seductive flames. Using a stick, she poked a piece of wood deeper into the flames and watched as it was engulfed by the blaze and became nothing more than burnt ash. As she watched the fire, her mind wondered off and took shelter in the future. She began to think about Itachi, and what she would do when she sees him. Automatically her hand moved to her pocket in her white trench coat. The vile of liquid still safely tucked in her pocket. As her mind drifted off from the thoughts of the future, she opened the mental door to the past.

Then memories began to play themselves over and over, things she wished to be rid of bombarded her mind.

Chokichi quietly sat down next to Suku and watched her stare at the flames. He was an old man around fifty years old with long grey hair that was tied into a low ponytail, and faded half open blue eyes. He wore a traditional dark green battle kimono with a large golden dragon fly on the back.

"Are you ready to let go of the past?" Chokichi asked, his husky voice entering Suku's thoughts yet it did not interrupt her trance.

Images flashed through her mind as she found herself whispering, "Yes."

Chokichi closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, "Why? What do you desire in your mind?"

There was a moment of silence as the reflection of the flames was easily seen in Suku's eyes, "Peace, I wish for my mind to be at ease about my past."

The aged man smiled, and closed his eyes moving into a meditation stance. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, and gently, he mentally spoke to her,

'The mind is not supposed to have boundaries such as doors that keep everything bottled up. Open your mind to think freely, you already have the first door open, sight. You see things as they are now, but there is still much about the world you don't know…' Chokichi's voice faded from Suku's mind and she looked away from the fire; her own mind returning to her body. When she looked over next to her, Chokichi was gone.

That night Suku dreamed the most peaceful dream she had ever had. She was in a small quiet village working as the village doctor. She looked much older, about five years to be exact.

~Dream~

Suku watched herself as she worked on patients with all sorts of problems. She looked so happy, and when she returned home, a child waited for her. A small 2 year old boy with dark hair and greenish blue eyes ran to her. When he saw Suku, his eyes lit up as he hugged her and when she walked into the kitchen carrying her son, Itachi sat at the table casually reading a book.

His appearance had become much softer, less intimidating over the years as he walked over to Suku and kissed her gently on the lips. The boy in her arms squirmed and was able to wiggle his way out of her arms. Suku smiled, as Itachi cupped her check and led her into a deeper kiss. As Suku watched the two she caught a glimpse of Itachi's hand, a ring was placed on the correct finger signifying that he was her husband…

~End Dream~

Suku woke to the touch of Kouryuu's hand on her shoulder.

"Mai, it's your turn for watch." She whispered. Suku nodded and got up to begin her shift.

- - -

The next morning the nine shinobi left the clearing leaving nothing behind to signify they were ever there. As they continued their journey Suku had many questions to ask Chokichi but knew it was neither the time nor the place to ask them. So she waited till they stopped for the night.

She once again sat by the fire, and waited to see if he would come back and sit with her like he had done the night before. After about ten minutes, Chokichi returned and sat next to her.

"Chokichi-san, I have many questions to ask you." Suku started, turning to face him. He nodded signifying she could continue.

"What was that last night? I was here yet I wasn't. My mind seemed to leave my body, and then I had a dream where I was looking at myself in the future..." She explained, a bit confused.

"Last night you were so deep in thought that you sub consciously awakened your spiritual energy. Spiritual energy is much different than chakra, it cannot be seen physically only mentally. There are few who know about spiritual energy and many will never have it. With enough practice and meditation, you can mentally leave your physical body. The purpose of spiritual energy is to put your mind and soul at rest, and heighten your senses through meditation. It enables the person using spiritual energy to grow intellectually; the user understands things of the world, is able to think things through better than others, and in extremely rare cases with years of dedication they are able to see events that have yet to happen." Chokichi explained, "Judging from the fact that you have opened the door of sight, you have meditated before. But this meditation is different. You will put your mind at ease, and will think of nothing; you are to just let your mind be free."

Suku nodded and moved into a mediation position with her legs crossed and her hands softly on her thighs. Inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, Suku slowed her breathing thus slowing her heart rate as well.

She did not think, only concentrated on breathing. An hour and a half passed until Suku opened her eyes. She was expecting something to be different, but the world was the same. The trees were still their dull green and brown, the wind still blew, and the sun still set in the west.

She sighed and shook her head slightly, 'Expect the unexpected…' she told her self, repeating Kakashi's words of advice that he had shared with her on one of their many missions. Half smiling Suku set up her bed and drifted off to sleep, nervously awaiting tomorrow; the thoughts of her past lingering in the mind.

At dawn, the nine shinobi left the clearing and continued their journey. They had entered tea country late last night and had agreed to set up camp and wait till the morning to find Mount Tokachi.

After asking around in the small peaceful villagers, the nine shinobi soon found the volcanic mountain. The large mountain stood hauntingly above them, as dark clouds formed. Small drops of rain began to fall as thunder rumbled off in the distance.

Then larger drops of rain began to fall faster and faster and soon loud strikes of lighting hit the ground below.

The alert Senshi's eyes widened, "They're coming!" She warned her subordinates taking a defensive position, their chakra signatures closing in on their location. She could feel _his_ chakra getting closer and closer to her. The man that had left her, deserted her in the rotting village, and had almost killed her was going to be in the clearing in less than 20 seconds.

-Itachi-

His eyes widened, he knew that chakra signature very well.

'It's…_her_' he thought to himself chuckling softly in anticipation and excitement.

---

"Form a line," Reikoku ordered, "Kouryuu move to the end closest to the forest line." Quickly everyone formed a line in the large clearing.

Standing in the line Suku's palms began to sweat as her heart began to beat faster and faster. She had never been this nervous on any mission, and now she stood ready to face her past. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, in an attempt to calm herself down. Mentally she began to count the seconds, '5…4…3…2…1…"

All the sudden eight shinobi dressed in black cloaks with red clouds appeared in the large clearing. Immediately, the shinobi from Kiri moved in front of their designated opponent's, as Kouryuu inconspicuously snuck away from the group.

Suku looked her opponent up and down, trying to focus her attention on him instead of the man on the other side of the clearing.

Scrutinizing her opponent, she noticed both of his palms had mouths complete with teeth and a tongue. He was young only a couple years older than Suku. His blonde hair was tied in a high pony tail and his long bangs covered the left side of his face. Deidara narrowed his grey blue eyes as he too analyzed Suku.

Each side eyes their opponents; the only noise was the dull sound of rain hitting the clothes and steel. The ominous silence built tension between the two groups of ninja as the stare down continued.

Then Suku's opponent, Deidara, reached into his pocket and began molding a chunk of clay into a bird with his right hand. He then through it up in the air and made a hand seal with his left hand. The single bird then turned into 20 birds. Deidara added his right hand to his left hand seal and the birds swiftly began to drop from the air exploding once they reached the ground.

"Let's see how fast you are!" Deidara yelled laughing as Suku began dodging the exploding clay birds. Skillfully, the Kunoichi slowly made her way towards Deidara as she continued to dodge the onslaught of mini bombs.

'If I can make this a close combat fight I'll be able to win…' Suku thought as her comrades began their own battles with their opponents.

But Deidara caught onto her plan and molded another piece of clay that turned into a giant bird. Jumping onto it, he flew up high in the rainy sky far from the reach of Suku.

"Dammit," Suku growled thinking over her options. Quickly biting her thumb and going through hand seals she pressed her palm to the ground yelling, "If you're going to hide in the sky like a coward I'll bring the fight to you! _**Kuchiyose no Jutsu**_!"

A giant puff of smoke appeared covering the entire clearing. Slowly it dissipated revealing a huge raven the size of a building. The bird was equipped with steel battle armor and sharp metal claws.

A loud ominous kaw drew the attention of a few fighters as Suku jumped onto the back of the black-red raven.

"Suku-sama," He bowed his head, "How may I be of assistance?"

"Tenkuu-san the man in the air- Suku pointed towards Deidara- "I need your help defeating him or forcing him to the ground."

The raven known as Tenkuu nodded and with one powerful flap of his wings he was air born.

"Oh this is surprising, the battle just got a little more interesting, yeah!"

Creating more clay birds, he flew towards Tenkuu.

"Watch out for his exploding clay!" She warned adding chakra to her feet, "Just get me on that bird."

Tenkuu soared through the air heading straight towards Deidara's clay bird. Extending his claws, Tenkuu grabbed for the birds neck but Deidara dodged and threw his mini clay birds at the two.

Suku eyes widened as a bird landed next to her.

BOOM

-In the clearing: Chokichi vs. Itachi-

Itachi sidestepped away from a chakra enforced palm strike from Chokichi and jumped back.

He then yelled, "_**Katon: Gōkakyu no Jutsu**_**!" **A large flaming ball then flew towards Chokichi. Jumping as high as he could into the air, the elder man barely missed the giant fireball as it past him.

Itachi then appeared in the air in front of Chokichi kneed him in the stomach then punched him making him fly into the ground below them.

Landing lightly on his feet, Itachi waited for Chokichi to get up. Then, he disappeared creating a genjutsu.

Chokichi's vision began to darken and he immediately flared his chakra and was able to disable to the genjutsu.

-Inside the mountain: Kouryuu-

The young girl ran threw the base searching for Mika. Opening door after door she relentlessly continued. Turning a corner she came to an iron door, with a thick lock and chain.

'This has to be it!'

Unsheathing her white-blue chain sickle, she sliced the chain in two. Then stabbing the point of the blade into the hole of the lock ice began to form and soon it covered the whole lock. Smirking, Kouryuu stepped back, grabbed the chain connected to her blade, and began swinging it above her head. She then whipped it forward towards the lock; it connected and shattered the ice covered lock.

Quickly sheathing her weapon, Kouryuu opened the door and found Mika in the corner bound by chakra chains.

"Mika-sama!" Kouryuu cried rushing to her side, "I'm going to get you out of here." Crushing the chakra chains, she helped Mika to her feet. Her pale face was bruised and bloody with her eyes half open. Barely able to stand by herself, she leaned heavily on the small girl as they left the room and began making their way out of the base.

-Suku vs. Deidara-

Suku jumped off of Tenkuu as the clay bird exploded. The explosion blew off a chuck of Tenkuu's armor on his back. The giant bird seemed unaffected as he flew the catch Suku. Flipping in the air, she landed gracefully on his back and surveyed the damage. There was a large gash from where the bird had landed.

"I'm fine Suku-sama, I have had worse." Tenkuu said flying higher in the air.

"Art is a bang! Yeah!" Deidara yelled enjoying the battle as he created more clay birds.

Tenkuu continued to fly closer to Deidara while dodging the bombs.

"Get ready Suku-sama." He warned. Suku gathered chakra at her feet making her stick firmly to his back. She then grabbed a few Senbon and waited until they were within range. Once they had reached Deidara, Tenkuu extended his claws again and grabbed a hold of the clay bird's neck. Suku jumped off of Tenkuu and onto the clay bird throwing her Senbon at Deidara. He dodged and backed away from Suku wanting to keep some distance between the two.

"That won't save you!" Yelled Suku disappearing and reappearing behind Deidara. However, the blonde man laughed as he jumped off the clay bird and made a one handed hand seal.

Again, Suku's eyes widened as she yelled, "Tenkuu the bird is going to blow up!" Immediately he let go of the bird, but it was too late. Both Suku and Tenkuu were engulfed in the blast.

BOOM

Large pieces of metal dropped out of the cloud of smoke as a heavily wounded Tenkuu struggled to stay air born as he flew out of the smoke. Along with the metal chunks, Suku fell from the sky. Burnt pieces of her clothing left a trail in the sky as the ground rapidly approached her. With her left arm and leg badly burnt she was unable to move out of the way as she crashed through the trees and slammed into the ground. Coughing up blood, the Senshi painfully sat up and began healing her leg.

The burn was nowhere near as bad as the one Reikoku gave her but it still hurt. Once she was done, she moved to her arm.

Deidara flew over the forest on another clay bird looking for Suku. Using the scope over his left eye, he was able to zoom in and see the ground.

-Mika & Kouryuu-

The two turned a corner and at the end of the hall was light, it was the exit to the base from which Kouryuu had entered in from.

"We are almost there, Mika-sama." Kouryuu encouraged walking a bit faster than before. Soon they reached the end of the hall, and exited the base. Once they had gotten far enough away from the base, Kouryuu flared her chakra and waited for Reikoku to find them.

Mika sat against a tree, her eyes barely open as she breathed heavily.

"Wh…" Mika whispered moving her head towards Kouryuu, "Where…is Rei…Reikoku?"

"He will be here soon," Kouryuu replied softly moving Mika's hair out of her face.

-Reikoku-

When he had felt Kouryuu's chakra, Reikoku left the clearing in search for Suku. He had seen her fall into the trees only moments ago and would need her to heal any of Mika's injuries.

Reikoku found her lying up against a tree healing her arm.

"Suku, Kouryuu found Mika. Let's go." He ordered.

-Mika & Kouryuu-

'Why isn't he here yet?' Wondered Kouryuu as she flared her chakra again. She looked over at Mika who was trying so hard not to close her eyes. It pained Kouryuu to see her idol and future Mizukage in a state like this; all battered up and in pain.

Kouryuu then stood up suddenly as she felt two chakra signatures approaching her. Grabbing her chain sickle, the young girl prepared to fight. Sweat rolled down the side of her face as she nervously waited for the two unknown shinobi. Her grip on her sickle and chain tightened when they arrived but immediately loosed when she saw who it was.

"Reikoku-sama, mission complete."

---Five Day's later---

The ten shinobi returned home safely to a relieved Mizukage. Mika was put in the hospital for a couple of weeks for malnutrition, chakra exhaustion, a concussion and a few broken bones. The chakra chains had literally sucked all of her chakra out of her body. She had refused to eat the poisoned food they had given her thus starving her. The wounds her capture, Uchiha Itachi, had inflicted on her were easily healed but she never said the identity of her capture was, even though she knew who he was.

Naruto became Reikoku's pupil and started training to become part of the Seven Swordsmen.

Rumors of the fight with Akatsuki and the Seven Swordsmen of Mist traveled around the world like wild fire. Suku's identity was safe as she became known as '**The Raven Mistress of Kiri'. And only a select few that had seen Suku's summons before knew that she was the Raven Mistress. **

Suku resumed her work as a doctor and only participated in missions that Matsu requested for her to be in. She began to meditate every morning hopping her mind would be at peace about her past. Though there were no immediate results, Suku knew she would see them in the long run.

Suku also grew close to Kohana and began to see her as a mother figure. Kogan and Suku began training regularly together, and soon became inseparable. Even Mika, who had previously made no effort on trying to get to know Suku, began to warm up to her and spent more and more time with her.

And for the first time in years, Suku felt like she was loved and that this is where she belonged; with her family.

-Mount Tokachi-

A man in a white medical uniform stood before an orange headed man with multiple facial piercing's.

"Uchiha Itachi is slowly dying. He has a disease ravaging his body that I have never seen before. It is eating away at all his vital organs and it will eventually make its way to his heart. The poison is so intricate that I do not know how to create an antidote for it. It's only a matter of time before his body is no longer able to function properly. He is also going blind from the extensive use of his sharingan. There is nothing I can do for him, I'm sorry." The doctor concluded, closing the folder from which he was reading from.

The orange headed man asked, "How long does Itachi have to live?"

The doctor thought a moment calculating how long it will take the poison to get to his heart, "The poison is still in its early stage and has only started to eat away at his organs. It will take some time for it to reach the next few stages, so I would say about four years maximum."

Sighing deeply, he waved his hand for the doctor to leave. He then called Itachi into the meeting room. The dying Uchiha looked as emotionless as ever as he stood before the leader of Akatsuki.

"Itachi, you know someone who can heal you don't you?" Pein asked, walking towards Itachi. (I got tired of saying 'orange headed man' haha)

"Yes, I know who put the poison into my body. I want your permission to retrieve her and bring her back here to heal my body and any wounds the other members receive." Itachi asked his eyes dead of any emotion.

Pein nodded his head, "You may bring her here, but you are to make sure no one sees you. I don't want a group of ninja coming after us again like before. I want you to recover from your fight then leave in one month." Pein then disappeared into the shadows of the room.

Walking towards his room Itachi thought about the upcoming events, 'She will not come with me willingly. I'll have to fight her seriously, but that will make a lot of noise which I can't afford to do. I'll just have to lure her away from Kiri…'

Going into his room, Itachi sat down on his bed and closed his eyes whispering, "Finally, I'm coming for you."

* * *

Well that's it for this chapter. I have been trying to make every chapter at least 5,000 words. ^ _^


	5. A sweet dream twisted into a nighmare

~Death's Hand: Obscured Truth~

Chapter 5- A sweet dream twisted into a nightma

http: //www. youtube. com/watch?v =3G5uDSakNjY(with out the spaces)

Listen to this music as you read this chapter~ Please~  


* * *

Suku rose out of her warm bed and as if in a trance walked out of her house and into the cold chilling night air. Small snowflake's softly fell from dark grey clouds, and pilled up on the frosted grass. She did not feel the snow's bitter kiss as she was pulled deeper into the forest. Like a magnet attracted to metal, Suku felt a tug in her heart that guided her feet where to go.

Wearing long black cloth pajama bottoms and a simple white tank-top, the Senshi stood before the man that had deserted her in Konoha; the one and only Uchiha Itachi. Emotionless and unreadable, he slowly walked towards Suku. With every step forward he took, she took a step back until she felt her back hit the solid base of a tree.

As he grew closer, Suku studied his seemingly perfect face. His coal black eyes seemed to become lost in her dark blue eyes. He stood within millimeters of Suku, as he cupped her check and led her into a soft kiss. Surprised and a bit angry, she tried to pull away but Itachi stepped closer pushing Suku's back harder against the tree.

*Slight Lime Alert*

As Itachi deepened the kiss, she couldn't fight against him anymore and gave in, kissing him back. Old feelings and desires resurfaced from the ashes and rekindled the flames of passion.

Grapping her butt, he picked Suku up off the ground and pressed her back even harder into the tree as she wrapped her legs around his waist and arms around his neck. Suspended in the air, the two began a heated and intense make-out session. Then the kissing ended and he moved to her neck and began a trail of kisses down her collar bone to her chest where he cupped one of her breasts in one hand massaging it, and kissing the other.

Moaning softly in pleasure, she combed her fingers through his soft silky raven hair. Suku had dreamt of this night for so long, the night where she would finally be able to be with Itachi. No matter how hard she had tried to kill her feelings for Itachi, she just wasn't able to ever completely let go of her feelings and memories. Yes, she had accepted her past and was able to be at peace with herself; but there is a piece of her heart that will always be Itachi's.

Itachi then stopped and moved away from the tree. Suku unhooked her legs from around his waist and untangled her arms from his neck as she stood up, straightening out her shirt.

*End of Lime Alert*

He took a few steps back away from Suku and offered his hand, "Come with me…"

He suggested his voice soft and inviting. As she lifted her hand to grasp Itachi's hand and leave with him forever, he began to fade away. The forest clearing became dark as if the moon was no longer shinning as Suku became distraught having lost sight of him. Itachi started to get farther and farther away from Suku; his hand still outstretched, waiting for her to join him.

Reaching for his hand, Suku ran after him but the distance between them stayed the same; the never ending gap did not change.

~End of Dream~

Startled by her dream, Suku sat up abruptly. Her eyes wide with surprise as she found herself breathing heavily and her body clammy. Instead of sitting in her bed she found herself in the same clearing as in her dream. Only there was no snow; autumn leaves blanketed the ground. The aged yellow and brass orange leaves cushioned the ground as Suku slowly laid back down. She stared up at the slow moving clouds as the wind softly rustled the leaves around her.

'Why am I dreaming of him all of the sudden?' she wondered, 'It's been a couple months sense our encounter with Akatsuki. So why am I dreaming of him now?'

Many questions invaded her mind as she tried to make sense of her dream. Touching her neck, she felt his warm lips lingering on her body.

'No, it's just my imagination. I'm over thinking this whole dream…' Suku thought shaking her head.

"What are you doing out here?" A voice asked.

Sitting up, she saw Reikoku at the tree line smiling at her. Suku returned the smile and picked herself up out of the pile of leaves. Shaking a few off she joined Reikoku at the tree line.

Laughing softly Reikoku picked a leaf out of Suku's hair, "You missed one."

"Ha ha very funny," Suku responded walking deeper into the trees, "Let's get out of here."

As they walked a breeze blew making Suku's long hair move slightly with the wind.

"But really what were you doing?" Reikoku asked looking her in the eyes.

Suku stopped walking and looked up at the clouds again, "I…I think I slept walk out here. But I can't remember what I dreamed about." Suku quickly lied lamely hopping Reikoku wouldn't push for answers about the dream.

He eyed Suku carefully, already seeing through her pathetic lie. But he decided to wait till she was ready to tell him about the dream.

Reikoku nodded and continued walking, "Naruto's training is coming along well. His nature affinities are fire and wind and I plan on teaching him how to combine both elements. His Taijutsu is very good for his age, you taught him well. His ninjutsu and genjutsu are standard; he obviously hasn't worked much with them in a while. Also Kouryuu has been hanging around a lot Naruto lately."

Suku smiled, "It's probably because they are around the same age. It might also be because Naruto has been around you a lot lately and Kouryuu is always with you so…Naruto's going to be turning 13 this week and Kouryuu is what 13? 14?"

Reikoku laughed and nodded his head, "Yeah, Kouryuu is only 13 and wont' be turning 14 till December."

"I see, so what's the story behind Kouryuu? Like how did she become apart of the Seven Swordsmen?" Suku asked.

"That's along story." He sighed, "I'll just start from the beginning. Hozuki Kouryuu, from the Hozuki clan; She is the youngest child in her family. Her two elder brothers, Mangetsu and Suigetsu have wanted to join the Seven Swordsmen since they were little kids. I don't think I have seen anyone train as hard as those two did. They became so strong and were almost to their goal in becoming members until Mangetsu died. He was killed in Kiri's civil war years ago. He was still a young boy, only the age of 12. The death of his brother made Suigetsu loose all hope and trust in Kiri so he left. But, there have been rumors that he was captured by Orochimaru and is being used as a lab rate. So Kouryuu is left to be clan head of her family and has become a member of the Seven Swordsmen in memory of her brothers."

-Back at Suku's house-

Kouryuu and Naruto sat at the table as Naruto ate an apple.

"So Yuu-chan," He asked still chewing a piece of the apple in his mouth, "Why are you always with Reikoku-sensei? Aren't there duties you have to do sense you're a member of the Seven Swordsmen?"

Kouryuu blushed a bit at the nickname but quickly brushed it off, "Well they aren't any necessarily 'duties', I mean I just do what I am ordered to do; and if I'm not ordered to do anything I just train with Reikoku-sama. I'm going to be the leader of my clan some day so training gives me an excuse to get away from all of those boring lessons on how to act like a 'proper' lady and all that crap they try to shove down my throat." She shivered remembering the memories of those dreadful lessons.

"Oh well I think your perfect the way you are, whether you're a 'lady' or not." Naruto confessed, with a slight blush.

Kouryuu smiled, lightly punching his arm, "Thanks Naruto, how about we go train a bit and then spar?"

Nodding the two then left the house to continue their training.

-Back with Suku and Reikoku-

It wasn't long till they made it to the clearing of Suku's house.

"I'll see you later; bring Naruto back in one piece please." Laughing she walked out of the tree line and into her vast garden.

Reikoku chuckled walking away, "Like I always do."

-Late that Night-

Suku lay awake staring at the dull blue paint on her ceiling. The aged paint was slowly chipping away as the years of wear and tear began to show.

"If I sleep tonight…will I dream of you, Itachi?" Suku whispered to no one particular as she pulled her comforter closer, the cool fall air filling her room from the open window. The feeling of uneasiness filled her stomach as she closed her eyes and began to dream a very familiar dream.

-Unknown Location-

Itachi sat on top of a hill staring at the lights off in the distance. The blobs of color grew dimmer as one by one they shut off; the village slowly falling asleep.

He sniffed the air, and the far-away salty sea smell filled his nostrils. He was close; so close to achieving what he has patiently awaited for, for so many years. Itachi could practically _feel_ her chakra as if she was next to him.

He closed his eyes enjoying the chilly night air against his skin. Next to him folded neatly was his Akatsuki cloak and scratched headband. He wore only a black tight t-shirt, black pants and black ninja sandals as he laid down staring at the sparkling stars; the never ending flickering of hope.

"When I dream…I only dream of you."

-The next morning-

Suku again found herself in the same clearing as before only this time she was up against the tree from her dreams.

Thinking back on her dream, Suku realized it was much different from her previous one. This dream was much more violent and intense. Instead of pinned by Itachi in a make-out session; she had been pinned by two kunai that were lodged deep in both of her shoulders.

Bringing her hand to her shoulders she touched the bone and winced in pain. There was no bruise or any evidence that she had been stabbed or injured. But Suku couldn't help but feel pain when she touched the sore muscle.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she tried to think of it rationally.

'When I slept walked here, I must have fallen or hit something…' Suku thought to herself, 'Yeah that's the most logically explanation…'

Picking herself up off the ground, she slowly began her walk home through the forest. As she looked at the landscape, images of the forest blanketed in snow flashed through her mind; images from her dreams.

Deep in thought, Suku emerged from the forest and walked to her house, oblivious to the world around her.

Still in her pajamas, she sat down on the porch to meditate on her dreams.

-Two week later-

Suku sat on her bed hugging her legs to her chest staring at her open window across the room. White droplets of snow fell softly from the sky as the delicate puffs began to blanket a thin layer on her window sill.

She did not blink only stared at the falling ice crystals.

"Snow…he will be coming… soon…" Suku whispered burying her head in her knees.

"Onee-sama?" Naruto asked opening the door to her room. Light flooded into the dark room, and Suku brought her head up to look at Naruto.

Staring at him, she waited for Naruto to speak the reason why he had come.

"You have guests that wish to see you." Naruto stated softly stepping into the room. He wrapped his arms around himself feeling the freezing cold breeze from the window. Walking over to it, he shut the window and turned on a lamp next to her bed.

"Come on, lets get you dressed."

-In the living room-

Reikoku, Matsu, and Kohana sat by the fire discussing the matter of which they had come.

"She hasn't eaten in days, refuses to come out of her room, and I believe she hasn't slept much either." Reikoku announced to the two.

Matsu sighed deeply and closed his eyes, "When did this all begin? Did you notice anything usual lately?"

Reikoku nodded his head, "It started about two and a half weeks ago. I found her sleeping in a clearing about a kilometer east from here. She had believed she had slept walked there but refused to tell me about the dream that took her there. She then began to meditate-

"She was trying to discover the meaning behind her dream." Matsu muttered, "She was disturbed by at what she found."

"Then she withdrew from everyone. She didn't talk to anyone, not even Naruto. I began to get worried, so I stayed the night at her house and waited for Suku to fall asleep. I found out that she has been sleep walking every night to the same spot and sleeping there instead of at her house."

There was a moment of silence, then Kohana spoke, "I think I know why she is acting like this."

Matsu chucked, "Please explain,"

Nodding Kohana began her explanation, "From the reports from Konoha of the relationship of Suku and Uchiha Itachi, the two were extremely close friends and eventually fell in love. They stayed together for five years until the Uchiha's desertion.

According to their reports, Suku took the news well and continued her ninja career to becoming the apart of the top team in Konoha.-

"I believe we know this information already, honey…" Matsu muttered

Kohana smiled, "There is a point to this story let me finish. As I was saying, she became the top medical ninja sense the Slug Princess Tsunade. She had made friends within Konoha over the years which then helped her escape from Konoha. It seems to me, that while in Konoha, she didn't come to terms with her feelings of the betrayal of Uchiha Itachi. But once she came here, Chokichi helped her do so. That is why there was a change in her, and she was able to open up more. However, sense the two still hold a deep connection with each other, whenever they are close to each other those old feelings arises and Suku is afraid of those feelings."

Having listened intently on the women's words Reikoku pondered, "That still doesn't explain why she is acting this way."

Matsu frowned seeing the wisdom of his wife's words. Grimly he corrected him, "No, Reikoku it does. Suku knows that Uchiha Itachi is coming to Kiri. He is coming to get her."

Reikoku's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the two in disbelief. "Why?" He questioned, "Why is coming for her?"

This time Kohana answered his question, "There are a few possibilities. One: Akatsuki is in need of a medic and that is why they first kidnapped Mika. When she refused to help them, they looked at their other options. The leader may believe that given their past relationship Suku might come willingly and help them. Number two: The Uchiha wants her for himself. And the last number three: Uchiha Itachi has come to kill Suku. But it is highly unlikely. The first is the most logical explanation."

'Wow, they were able to create this well thought out of an analysis just based off the records in Konoha and the information I was able to give them. This is the intelligence of Mizukage-sama and his wife…'

Reikoku was about to reply but heard Naruto and Suku coming from her room, which ended their conversation.

Suku looked exhausted. She had dark heavy bags underneath her eyes and her skin had lost it's complexion from the lack of sunlight. Her waist had gotten a bit smaller from not eating as well.

"Suku," Matsu greeted, "Come have a seat. We all wish to speak to you." Suku did as she was told and sat in a large chair close to the fire. Staring into the flames she brought her legs up into her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs.

Matsu then completely changed his tone of voice, "Suku look at me." The seriousness and authority in his voice shocked everyone as Suku slowly turned her head to look at Matsu.

"Tell me about your dreams. The ones about you and Uchiha Itachi." He demanded. She shook her head and tears roll down her face as she began remembering them once again.

"Senshi Suku, do as I say!" Matsu yelled standing up from his chair. Reikoku looked at Matsu in utter shock; he had never seen him act this way. Kohana on the other hand sat up straight with her hands tightly crossed over her lap staring impassively at her husband.

Suku began to shake as more tears began to fall from her eyes; though it was unsure if she was shaking out of fear of Matsu or the fear of facing her dreams.

"We…" she begins, "we are in a clearing. He kisses me…I kiss back…he then begins to fade away…asking for me to come with him…I try to grab his hand to leave with him…but he grabs my wrist and throws me into a tree…pinning me with kunai…he then slowly kills me…" She then looks at Matsu, "In another dream, I fight back and kill him…in another…he…he takes me away…I just can't escape him. I can't escape the fact that he's coming for me! He will take me away and kill anyone that gets in his way. He won't stop till he finds me!"

Kohana couldn't take the sight of Suku having a pity party so she stood up and smacked Suku across the face, "Pull yourself together. You are a Senshi and you will not feel sorry for yourself. Whether if he comes or not you will be ready. This is your fight, and it is a fight that you will win."

After hearing Kohana's words, Suku began to get better. And in a few days she had returned to her old self again. Now the only thing to do was to train and be ready.

---

Yup that's the end of the chapter. It's a lot shorter than the other chapters. But I wanted to end it here. Sorry if this chapter was confusing at all.


	6. Facing Reality

**Im really sorry that this chapter came out so late. I am in the process of moving, and school is starting next week so I have been really busy. I really enjoyed writing this chapter and I would appreciate any reviews on what you thought of it. PLEASE please REVIEW!!!

* * *

**

Death's Hand: Obscured Truth

**"Reality isn't the way you wish things to be, nor the way they appear to be, but the way they actually are." ~ Robert J. Ring**er

Chapter 6- Facing reality

Drops of frozen crystals softly fell from the darkened sky. The white ice instantly melted as it touched warm skin. Suku closed her eyes and pulled her jacket in tighter, breathing in the chilled night air.

Hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her into a hug.

"You shouldn't dwell too much on the future." Reikoku advised setting his head on her shoulder.

"I know but I can't help it. My stomach is in knots and I can't help but feel anxious." Suku explained, "I know he is close. I still see him in my dreams every night."

Reikoku sighed, his breath visible in the night air "The battle between you two is inevitable, it's just a matter of when; and I'm sure it will be soon. What you are feeling is normal, just do as Chokichi has advised and meditate on the dreams, and you will be ready when the time comes. It's a fight I'm sure you will win."

Turning around Suku hugged Reikoku, "Thanks, what would I do without you?"

"Probably loose your mind and become insane." He laughed un-wrapping his arms and walking back towards the city.

"Very funny!" She yelled to him, smiling.

But her smile slowly faded away. She herself did not have as much confidence in herself as the others did. She had fought Itachi before, she knew that man better than anyone else. They knew each other inside and out. Like what to say to make the other angry, where their weaknesses are, and most importantly the key to defeating the other.

The secrets that only they know about each other will make this battle so difficult and like no other battle they have ever fought. Who will be the victor of this ever so personal and vicious battle? Time has merely a glimpse of the future, only fates cruel wisdom and truth can decide who is going to be the winner of this epic clash between two shinobi.

-Early the next morning-

Suku sat at the edge of her bed staring at the floor. The dream she had last night was the most vivid, brutal, and emotional dream yet. Sweat and tears hit the cold wooden floor as she hunched over gripping her head tightly in an attempt to calm herself down. Breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, she was able to slow her heart rate down and control her breathing. Getting up off her bed, she walked into the bathroom to wash her face.

Staring back at herself in the mirror, Suku saw puffy bloodshot eyes and extremely tangled hair. Sighing she grabbed a brush off the counter and began the tedious work of brushing her messy hair. Once it was tangle free she put it up in a high ponytail with a red ribbon, changed into a white trench coat with a tight long black sleeved shirt underneath and baggy grey camouflage print pants with black boots. She then left her bedroom to make some tea.

The house was empty and eerily quiet as she walked into to the kitchen. Opening the dark oak cabinet Suku grabbed some herbs and spices mixed them together and put them in a small strainer that was in the tea kettle. Then pouring water into it, she set it on the hot stove and waited for it to heat up. Walking outside, she sat down on the porch and stared at the ocean. The vast amount of water and raw power amazed her as the forceful waves crashed into the sand.

But she was pulled out of her daze by a sharp stab to her stomach. Loosing her breath she looked down but nothing was there yet she _felt_ it. But she felt as if she **had** been stabbed in the stomach. She hunched over coughing and once she calmed herself down again, the pain still pulsed in her stomach. That's when she felt it. Her head whipped to the north and she stood up staring in that direction. The tea began to scream in the background yet Suku didn't seem hear its loud cries. All her attention was focused on him

He had finally arrived in Kiri. She could sense his chakra signature entering the village. His rapid speed would make him merely a blur but to some he would be nearly invisible. Concentrating, she mentally followed him and realized where he was going. The clearing that she had been dreaming about for over a month, the very place that she had been sleep walking too. Yes, she knew this place very well. The time had come.

Clenching her fists tightly, Suku walked back into her house. And as if in a trance turned off the tea moved it off the stove and walked up to her room. She sat down crossed her legs and began to meditate. Calming her mind and emotions, the Senshi began to plan out a strategy looking at every possible out come.

Suku knew he wouldn't make a move in broad daylight. He would wait for the cover of darkness. But if he came to her, it would put Naruto in danger. So she decided that she would go to him. She slowly opened her eyes, and with the look of pure determination she stood up walking towards her green house. She scanned the shelves till she found the green vile of liquid she was looking for. Carefully caring it back upstairs, the Senshi put her gear on.

She clipped a medium sized white bag around her waist and put all her poisoned Senbon into her right pouch with a couple of kunai. Then she placed the green vile in her white bag along with solider pills, blood clotting pills, gauze, a few medical tools, medical cream, and a bottle of antibacterial liquid.

The Senshi then looked at herself in the mirror.

"Are you ready to do this?" She asked herself, her eyes hardened as she narrowed her eyes at herself.

"Yes."

And she was gone in a blur. The sun was dropping below the horizon as she neared the clearing. The sky grumbled loudly as rain soon followed after. The cold wet liquid poured down relentlessly as she appeared in the clearing. Itachi stood in the center of the clearing, his eyes shut with an impassive expression.

He slowly opened them revealing his fully matured sharingan eyes. He stared straight into Suku's own dark blue eyes, boring holes into her skull. Glaring back at him, she clenched her fist tightly as her old anger from the past resurfaced.

Falling into an attack position Suku's hand began to glow a familiar yellow as she glared at Itachi. Shifting his position he moved into a defensive position and waited for her attack.

She then ran at him head on. Aiming her punches towards his face and chest, she began her onslaught of rage. He easily ducked and jumped back avoiding her attacks. He continued to jump back till his back touched the trunk of a tree. Quickly grabbing a few kunai he threw towards Suku hoping to put some distance between them. She ducked under the weapons and continued to close the distance. Itachi then suddenly changed his stance to an offensive position and ran towards Suku.

Smirking in excitement, the two began a full out Taijutsu war. Landing blow after blow on each other as they moved at high speeds appearing on one side of the clearing and then on the other side. Ducking under a punch Suku swept her leg underneath Itachi's, an attempted to trip him but he jumped in the air. Inwardly smiling Suku sky rocketed off the ground upper cutting Itachi in the jaw. But she wasn't done, she then elbowed him in the stomach and kicked him down back to earth.

He recovered in the air and landed on his feet waiting for Suku's next attack. Creating a chakra scalpel in the air she appeared behind him and tapped his right shoulder. It instantly relaxed as he swung his left hand behind him punching her in the jaw. Wiping blood from her lip, Suku ran at him again this time with fist of chakra. As she punched his numbed shoulder he grabbed her wrist and swung her into a tree. The tree creaked and groaned in protest but other wise it stood strong. Wiping more blood from her mouth, Suku stood up and began to feel Itachi's genjutsu. Quickly she bit her thumb and summoned Kana and Kita.

The large ravens ominous 'kaw' was loud and pierced threw the forest scaring a flock of birds to take flight into the night air.

-Suku's house-

Naruto whipped his head in the direction of the shrill call of Kita's battle cry. He knew Suku's personal summons very well and had become quite fond of them. The young boy knew Kita's earsplitting cry anywhere. He dropped his book onto the floor and immediately picked up his ninja gear disappearing in the direction of the Seven Swordsmen compound.

-Back at the clearing-

Kana looked the Uchiha up and down carefully, studying every inch of him.

"A fire user," She observed quietly, "Fierce, determined, and undoubtedly strong. He won't stop until he gets what he wants." Kana then turned to Kita and Suku, "We must be careful with this one." The aged carnivorous bird then disappeared into blackness dispelling the genjutsu.

For the first time, Itachi spoke his voice deep yet still smooth like Suku remembered, "It is hopeless." He stated, "No matter what you do, you will lose."

Kita glared harder at him trying to hold back her anger, as she waited for the command from Suku.

Suku narrowed her eyes at Itachi, anger filling her entire body.

"Really? Is that why you left? Because being in Konoha was _hopeless_? You left **me **in that shit hole to rot because everything was hopeless?! Tell me this _**Uchiha**_, did it ever occur to you that I would have left with you in a heart beat?!"

Itachi hardened his eyes, a hint of anger rising. He flew through hand seals creating a giant ball of flames flying towards Suku. She scowled at him, 'You never change.'

Pumping chakra into her feet she jumped high off the ground landing on Kita's armored back. She watched the giant ball tear through trees as the fire continued the burn.

"Unless controlled fire will only burn those around it." Kita muttered, as if quoting from a book.

"Kita this is my fight, I called you here to cover for me when I need to heal the injuries Im sure I will receive. You will know when I need your help, but until then please stay out of it. I know genjutsu isn't your strong suit but you aren't horrible at it either, watch out he will try to put you under a genjutsu." Suku warned jumping off Kita's back. She flipped a couple times in the air and landed softly on her feet a few meters away from Itachi.

-The Seven Swordsmen's Compound-

Naruto sat in a large common area with five of the seven swordsmen members. A large fireplace was set in the center of the room as everyone gathered around its warmth seeking shelter from the icy cold weather outside.

Reikoku stood staring into the fire deep in thought, as the others quietly talked amongst themselves.

"We should go out there and help her!" Kisame whispered harshly to the other four.

"And do what? We would just get in Suku's way." Zabuza countered jabbing Kisame in the stomach with his elbow.

"But we can't just sit here!" Protested Kouryuu slamming her fist into a near by table.

Reikoku tore his gaze away from the fire and directed his attention to the other swordsmen.

"That's enough," He commanded, "I know that you are all worried about Suku but there is nothing we can do. Matsu-sama and the others are worried too, but we must remain here until it is over.."

Naruto leaned against the table with his head down; his long blonde locks of hair covered his face as he listened, his expression unreadable.

"This is her fight. We can not and will not interfere. All we can do is hope that she'll win." Reikoku ended sadly moving closer to the fire.

The others continued to bicker amongst themselves again as Reikoku rolled his eyes at them.

"She will not win." Naruto stated, speaking for the first time sense he arrived. The room instantly quieted as all eyes stared at him in astonishment.

"Naruto! How can you say that? That's your sister out there, you have to believe in her!" Kouryuu yelled.

The young blonde pushed himself off the table and glared at the other shinobi.

"You do not know those two like I do. You do not know what that man is like. There are many things you may think you know but you don't. This is the hardest thing my sister has ever had to do. Do you think that she has enough hatred inside of her to kill the only man she has ever truly loved? But I know that that man does. He is an emotionless killing machine that left us in a heart beat. So don't sit her and tell me to believe shit that's not going to happen. I know the difference between false hope and reality. And the reality is. He **will** kill her." Naruto spat walking out of the room and slamming the door behind him.

Kouryuu sighed, and sat on a table.

"I should go talk to him…" Mumbled Kouryuu bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them;

Kisame put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head, "No, let him be. He'll cool off and come back in when he's ready."

Zabuza walked over to Reikoku and stated quietly, "Naruto's right isn't he…"

Reikoku looked at Zabuza sadly; and with his eyes filled with grief he nodded his head. Momichi Zabuza sighed heavily and dropped his head.

The two had been part of the lucky few in Kiri who had actually gotten to know the real Senshi Suku and had spent time with her. They had grown to like her and saw her to be a precious friend.

The doors suddenly burst open as Mika and Kogan entered the room.

"Yikes, you find more cheer in a graveyard what's got you all depressed?" Kogan asked sliding across the table to Kouryuu who looked like she was ready to cry.

Mika walked across the large room over to Reikoku and Zabuza. She eyes their depressed expressions, and raised an eyebrow.

"Suku's fighting Uchiha Itachi."

Mika's expression instantly changed, "You mean she is fighting that asshole that kidnapped me and tortured me?"

Everyone nodded their heads weakly making them look like bobble heads. Kogan smiled and slide off the table. He being the person who knew Suku the best and longest just laughed.

Everyone, including Mika, stared at him like he was crazy.

"You don't get it Kogan," Mika growled, "You haven't seen this man."

Kogan stopped laughing and looked at everyone seriously, "No your right I haven't. But I have seen Suku's abilities. Hell most of us in this room have fought Suku. We know how strong she is, and we sure as better believe in her because if we don't then who will? We are her friends and family so we are going to support her 110%. It sickens me how you all have such little faith in her. Yes this may be the toughest battle that she has ever experienced but so what? She will conquer it, and if she looses and that son of a bitch takes her away do you know what we are going to do? We will be good friends and family and rescue her sorry ass. Because we are all she's got. So stop mopping, get off your ass and do something. Don't just sit here hopping for the best. Know that she will walk away from this battle alive."

-Clearing-

The battle continued to drag on neither one giving in to the other. Suku's thigh was bleeding and her shoulder had been dislocated. Itachi's arm still remained useless as other cuts and bruises covered his body. His Akatsuki cloak had long been discarded off to the side as it was ripped to shreds curtsy of Kita's claws. The two summons still remained on the battle field watching the fight vigilantly waiting for the command to enter the brawl.

Each side's movements had begun to slow.

'This cannot continue like this. If it's a battle of stamina he will eventually gain the upper hand. I can't afford to waist any energy now, but I have no choice but to use it.' Closing her eyes Suku was slowly engulfed in a bluish yellow chakra. A series of tattoos surfaced from her body and began to glow. Then when the glow died down and the tattoo's disappeared Itachi looked at Suku surprisingly.

"When and how did you get chakra weighted tattoos?" He demanded anger clearly evident in his voice.

"Do you remember the little purple haired girl that helped rescue me from Kumo all those years ago?" Suku asked innocently.

Itachi glared, obviously remembering.

Smirking she continued, "Before I left Konoha, she told me where she received her tattoos. So I took a little detour before going to Kiri. A little blonde fox has them also but his are special." Suku taunted, knowing how hard he had searched for an ink specialist yet there was one right under his nose.

Laughing she continued, "So the speed I showed you was only half of what it actually is."

Itachi clenched his teeth, and for the first time sense the battle had begun he was genuinely angry. Which was exactly what Suku wanted.

Seeing his anger, she inwardly smirked. This is where the real battle begins.

Suku appeared in font of Itachi with her split body activated in one hand and her chakra scalpel in the other. The deadly combination was lethal to anyone who came in contact with her hands. Reaching for his head with her split body and upper shoulder with her chakra scalpel she was almost able to touch him but Itachi kicked her in the stomach forcing her to cancel the technique.

'That was Suku-sama's trump card, and she's only able to use it once. What will she do now?' Kana thought, analyzing the battle.

Standing up Suku disappeared and using a chakra enforced punch she surprised Itachi by punching him in the ribs cage breaking six of his 24 ribs. Itachi doubled over coughing up blood. The Senshi jumped back putting distance between them and waited for him to recover. Striking a fallen opponent is extremely rude and pathetic and lets be honest its also no fun!

But his coughing fit continued longer than what a blow like that should have lasted. The punch had triggered his disease. Suku watched as a small pool of blood was created on the ground from his attack.

Itachi leaned against a tree, his face pale and his eyes half open. His body was tired he needed to end it quick if he was to still win.

"So it's reached your lungs…" Suku observed as she eyed his body as if she were a Hyuuga and could see his inner body.

He was breathing heavily as he glared at her, "Yes you did an excellent job at picking out a disease that would slowly but painfully kill me. Oh I forgot, there no cure either!" His frustration became clear now as he hated himself for dragging the battle out and not ending it sooner.

"Oh are you sure about that?" Suku asked pulling out the vile of green liquid she had carefully placed in her white medical bag.

Itachi eyes widened, "Is that…" He whispered.

"Yes, it's the one and only vile of the antidote I created to cancel out the disease to restore you body back to it's original strength" She announced placing it back in her bag.

'What is she thinking?' Kita wondered staring down at them.

'Suku-sama that was a foolish move…' Kana shook her head, 'That ended the battle.'

"Kita!" Kana whispered harshly, the younger bird flew over to Kana, "This battle is over and Suku-sama has lost. It will end in a flash but we need to leave now and tell Naruto-san about the fight."

"We cant leave Suku-sama!" Kita protested.

"Yes we can. This is the only way to save her later on now lets go!" Kana commanded, jumping off the snow covered tree top.

"**Tsukuyomi****!" **

---

**That is the end of this chapter. It isn't as long as my other chapters have been. But I felt that this was a good way to end it, though I could've kept writing. Phew this took awhile to write! REVIEW!!!!**


End file.
